This doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. At least two Democrats, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Katie Porter, have already announced they are running for the seat. Still, Feinstein made it official today.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will retire from Congress at the end of 2024 after three decades in the Senate and over 50 years in public office, she announced Tuesday.

“I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement.

Feinstein, 89, is the oldest sitting senator and the longest-serving senator from her state, having first been elected to the Senate in 1992. She had been under pressure for years from other Democrats in the state to make room for a younger generation of lawmakers.

It has been an open secret for several years now that Feinstein’s mental fitness was declining. The first time I wrote about this was back in September 2020 based on this Politico story.

Feinstein, the oldest member of the Senate, is widely respected by senators in both parties, but she has noticeably slowed in recent years. Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic senators and aides show widespread concern over whether the California Democrat is capable of leading the aggressive effort Democrats need against whoever President Donald Trump picks to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg…

Feinstein sometimes gets confused by reporters’ questions, or will offer different answers to the same question depending on where or when she’s asked. Her appearance is frail.

By last April the San Francisco Chronicle was chiming in with a similar story.

“It’s bad, and it’s getting worse,” said one Democratic senator. This person said that within the Senate, Feinstein has difficulty keeping up with conversations and discussions. …

“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” the lawmaker said. “She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring. Because there was just no trace of that.”

Finally last May the NY Times weighed in.

At 88, Ms. Feinstein sometimes struggles to recall the names of colleagues, frequently has little recollection of meetings or telephone conversations, and at times walks around in a state of befuddlement — including about why she is increasingly dogged by questions about whether she is fit to serve in the Senate representing the 40 million residents of California, according to half a dozen lawmakers and aides who spoke about the situation on the condition of anonymity.

On Capitol Hill, it is widely — though always privately — acknowledged that Ms. Feinstein suffers from acute short-term memory issues that on some days are ignorable, but on others raise concern among those who interact with her…

One Democratic lawmaker who had an extended encounter with Ms. Feinstein in February said in an interview that the experience was akin to acting as a caregiver for a person in need of constant assistance. The lawmaker recalled having to reintroduce themself to the senator multiple times, helping her locate her purse repeatedly and answering the same set of basic, small-talk questions over and over again.

So at this point, she really should be retiring instead of resigning in two years. She’s not running her office at this point, her staff is and no one elected them to the job. There are some reports that even her announcement today showed her staff was in charge and she seemed unsure of what was happening.

Asked by reporters about her announcement to resign, @SenFeinstein says “If I haven't made that decision, I haven't released anything.” A staffer then told the senator that a statement had been released. Feinstein responded saying “I didn’t know they put it out.”

— Christian Hall (@christianjhall) February 14, 2023

I don’t harbor any ill will toward Sen. Feinstein, but I do harbor some ill will toward the politicos around her who seem to prefer that she remain in office even though they know better than anyone that she is not fit to serve. Yes, I’m sure Feinstein herself, in her most lucid moments, wants to keep going but that’s just an excuse. She probably should have announced her resignation a year or two ago. Someone who cares about her should have pulled her aside and convinced her. At this point, pushing her to continue for another two years just seems cruel.

But I guess if we’ve learned anything about Democrats lately it’s that they care much more about the seat than they do about the health of the person in it. Just ask John Fetterman.