Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who shattered glass ceilings during her more than three decades in the U.S. Senate, has died, two sources confirmed to CBS News. She was 90.

Feinstein was the longest-serving woman in the Senate, as well as the longest-serving senator from California. But in recent months and years, questions about her health have clouded her governing profile. 

She was absent from the Senate for about three months earlier this year because of a difficult bout with shingles and complications related to the virus. Feinstein returned to the Senate in mid-May, appearing in public for the first time since February. She was wheeled into the Capitol, looking frail and with one eye nearly closed. She said in a statement that she’d made “significant progress” but was “still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus.” 

A few days later, her office said that her health issues were more serious than had been previously disclosed. The 89-year-old Democrat was suffering from encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, and a condition known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. 

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Approved ~ MJM