Kay Granger's status under scrutiny after missing out on vital votes
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) has not cast a vote since July despite the House of Representatives holding many important votes in that time, spurring speculation as to where she has been.
Granger, 81, who is retiring at the end of this Congress after serving since 1997, was last seen on Capitol Hill in November during the unveiling of a portrait in her honor for the House Appropriations Committee. About a month later, she did not vote on the pivotal spending bill to keep the government open, and citizens in her district wondered why that was.
The Dallas Express reported that the Texas Republican has been found at a memory care unit and assisted living home, saying they received a tip from a constituent to the outlet.
The outlet confirmed with two employees of the assisted living facility that Granger lived there, adding video evidence, but they were unable to reach the congresswoman directly.
The Washington Examiner was unable to get in touch with the office of the congresswoman.
The report also found that one of her district offices had already been closed and packed up, as Granger's term in office is set to expire in the coming weeks.
Granger was the first Republican woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee, but she suddenly stepped down from the position in March, with Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) replacing her as the chairman shortly after.
"As I reflect on my time in the House of Representatives and more than five years as Ranking Member and now Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, I realize I have accomplished more than I ever could have imagined," Granger wrote in her March letter stepping down from the position.
Her absence and the report on her whereabouts have caused some officials to share concern, with Texas Republican Executive Committee Rolando Garcia calling it a "sad and humiliating way to end her political career."
"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," Garcia said in a post on X.
Other members have also faced scrutiny in recent years over staying in office. The late-Sen. Dianne Feinstein had mounting questions over her age and mental fitness in the last years of her life, with several of her fellow members of Congress calling on her to resign before the end of her term. Feinstein died in September 2023, more than a year before the end of her final term.
Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) suffered a stroke in May and has not voted in the chamber since then, but he still won reelection last month for another term. Evans said in a statement that he would return to the chamber next month for the new Congress, brushing off concerns over his recovery from the "minor stroke."
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Perhaps it's time for age limits?
What a piker. The president got away with it for four years