Dianne Feinstein defends job performance, declines interview with San Francisco Chronicle

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. pushed back against claims that she was "rapidly deteriorating" mentally and could no longer fulfill her job requirements, but denied an interview request from The San Francisco Chronicle, the paper that published an extensive report on her cognitive decliine.

"The last year has been extremely painful and distracting for me, flying back and forth to visit my dying husband who passed just a few weeks ago. But there’s no question I’m still serving and delivering for the people of California, and I’ll put my record up against anyone’s," she said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Feinstein put out a lengthier statement this week, in which she reiterated that much of her focus was diverted towards her late husband’s health and death in the last year, but stated that she "remained committed" to her job and touted achievements. 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN'S MEMORY FADING AND SHE MAY NO LONGER BE FIT TO SERVE, SENATORS SAY

"In the past few months, I successfully led the reauthorization of the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act, secured more direct government funding for my state than any other Democratic senator other than the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and secured additional funding to retain federal firefighters to help California prepare for the upcoming wildfire season," Feinstein said. 

"The real question is whether I’m still an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am."

Feinstein was first elected to the Senate in 1992. The 88-year-old Democrat has not indicated whether she plans to run for re-election. Citing four anonymous U.S. senators, a House Democrat, and three former employees of Feinstein’s office, The Chronicle reported on Thursday their concerns about the senator's ability to continue to perform her job adequately. 

Senators and other officials are reportedly concerned that Feinstein, 88, is no longer mentally competent enough to do her job as a lawmaker, according to the Chronicle. Feinstein's critics, however, have declined to speak on the record and asked to have their names withheld.

"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," one anonymous lawmaker told the Chronicle. 

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Among the Chronicle's examples of what colleagues considered troubling behavior was her complimenting the Republican-led process to confirm Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whom Senate Democrats unanimously opposed.

Fox News' Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.