Pelosi’s daughter is Dianne Feinstein’s primary caregiver at the Capitol, but the former speaker denies using the relationship to help her protégé replace the aging senator

Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s daughter has been assisting Sen. Dianne Feinstein around the Capitol since her return from California last week, but the former speaker’s office has denied suggestions in a recent report that Pelosi is trying to keep the senator in office in order to advance her preferred Senate candidate.

In a report on Thursday from Politico, the outlet noted that Pelosi’s eldest daughter, Nancy Carinne Prowda, has regularly been seen alongside Feinstein since her return to Congress following a shingles diagnosis. While there is a friendly relationship between the Pelosi and Feinstein families, Politico suggested that there could be a political reason for the former speaker’s daughter to assist Feinstein: ensuring Feinstein stays in Congress so Pelosi’s preferred candidate can win in 2024.

In a statement to Politico and in a separate tweet linking to the published Politico story, Pelosi’s communications director Aaron Bennett denied any political reason for Prowda to be helping Feinstein post-recovery. “Anyone who knows Senator Feinstein knows that her service in the Senate is entirely her own decision, and Speaker Emerita Pelosi would never suggest otherwise,” Bennett said.

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Speaker Pelosi & Senator Feinstein have been friends since long before their service in Congress. Their friendship is personal, not political.

Anyone who knows Senator Feinstein knows her service in the Senate is entirely her own decision. Pelosi would never suggest otherwise. https://t.co/PcTEB6wcvB

— aaron bennett (@abennett97) May 18, 2023

Feinstein, 89, missed several months of votes in the Senate due to her diagnosis in February before returning in May. Her absence made it more difficult for Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees, leading several congressional Democrats to call for her to resign.