(NewsNation) — After U.S. Rep. Kay Granger’s five-month absence from Congress came to light, some Americans are left wondering if their elected officials are doing their jobs or if they are missing critical votes.
As the 81-year-old is in a retirement facility dealing with dementia-related issues, other members of Congress have been chronically absent from Capitol Hill, too.
NewsNation's Tom Dempsey reviewed data from govtrack.us, a congressional watchdog site, and found Granger isn't even the most absent member of Congress this year.
Arizona Democrat Rep. Raúl Grijalva missed 455 votes, roughly 88% of the House votes taken this year, as he battled cancer. The 76-year-old was reelected in November and has said his upcoming term will be his last.
Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Dwight Evans is the second most absent member of Congress, having missed nearly 63% of votes after suffering a stroke in May. He also won reelection in November after running unopposed.
By comparison, Granger ranks third on this list, missing 54% of the votes.
Coming in fourth is Minnesota Democrat Rep. Dean Phillips, who missed 149 votes this year, most of which were during his failed effort to run against President Biden in the primaries.
On the other side of Congress, Vice President-elect JD Vance missed the most votes in the Senate, most of which were after being tapped as President-elect Donald Trump's running mate.
Retiring West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin ranked second, having skipped 90 votes in the Senate this year. He's followed by a fellow outgoing senator, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who missed 73 votes this year, and Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun, who missed 70 votes while he successfully ran for governor.
Three lawmakers died while in office, including Democrats Donald Payne Jr., Sheila Jackson Lee and Bill Pascrell.
NewsNation's Ashley Soriano contributed to this report.
