Rep. Kay Granger, Republican of Texas, has missed four months of votes in Congress after "having some dementia issues late in the year," her son Brandon Granger told The Dallas Morning News.
“It’s been a hard year,” said the 52-year-old Brandon, who also shared that his mother is living in Traditions Senior Living in Fort Worth, Texas.
Questions regarding Granger’s deteriorating health were raised when The Dallas Express reported that she had been seen wandering the neighborhood “lost and confused.”
Granger, who is 81 years old, cast her last vote on Capitol Hill in July. She was chair of the House Appropriations Committee until she stepped down in April. She did not run for reelection in November, and her days in Congress are waning with her term ending in January.
Her absence was felt last week during the chaotic negotiations as House Republicans tried to legislate their way out of a government shutdown.
Even her Republican colleagues decried her running for office despite the first signs of decline, calling the government a “congressional gerontocracy.”
“The fact that Kay Granger is unable to leave her nursing home to participate in the most important congressional vote of the year suggests she was already in visible decline when she ran for re-election in 2022,” State Republican Executive Committeeman Rolando Garcia said on X on Friday. “A sad and humiliating way to end her political career. Sad that nobody cared enough to ‘take away the keys’ before she reached this moment. And a sad commentary on the congressional gerontocracy.”
Granger’s absence reignites a debate on age and term limits in Congress and the White House, including whether public officials should be required to pass a cognitive test to serve.
Americans have witnessed the inevitable slowing that comes with age among other elected officials such as the late Dianne Feinstein; 91-year-old Chuck Grassley; 84-year-old Nancy Pelosi; and Mitch McConnell and President Joe Biden, both 82.
This past month, Democrats, forced to map out a new agenda after their defeat in November, have been clinging to long-held government positions and committee roles even as younger, more progressive candidates and officials vie for their roles.
In a backroom deal reportedly led by Pelosi, 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was passed over for 74-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly for ranking member of the House Oversight Committee last week.
While candidates must be at least 25 years old to be elected to the House, 30 to be elected to the Senate, and 35 to become president, there are currently no term or age limits for members of Congress despite being backed by the majority of Americans across party lines.
Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, says the lack of term or age limits reflects the self-interest of members of Congress.
“The incentives are all wrong: Stay too long, spend too much, serve The Firm & you’ll find yourself in powerful positions … for far too long. Meanwhile, staffers wielding power in your name will hide your declining mental and physical condition,” Lee said on X on Sunday.
For many, Granger’s case underscores the risks of allowing career politicians to remain in power for decades, even when they’re no longer capable of performing their duties. It also raises an uncomfortable question: Is the political system doing enough to protect the interests of voters when their representatives no longer can?
