Leaders in the House and the Senate paused from the race to avert a government shutdown to remember Feinstein, the California Democrat who was longest-serving woman to ever sit in the U.S. Senate.

Feinstein suddenly became the mayor of San Francisco when two other officials were assassinated. Later she was elected to the U.S. Senate after male senators grilled Anita Hill in public hearings.

Elected officials are (almost) the oldest they have ever been in Washington which is causing discussions over what it means to be fit for office.

Two of the oldest members of the U.S. Senate showed the vulnerabilities that come with gerontocracy last week. But age limits can still be difficult to talk about or pass as law.

The 90-year-old Californian's long absence and current condition raise questions about the institution's ability to deal with its internal issues of aging or disability.