A Republican congresswoman from Texas has not cast a vote in the U.S. House since July while living in a memory care facility — something she has not disclosed to the public, according to a Dallas media outlet that explains the reason for her extended absence.
Kay Granger, 81, has represented Texas’ 12th Congressional District, which includes part of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, since 1997. And from January 2023, she chaired the powerful House Appropriations Committee for more than a year.
But months after announcing her plans to retire when her term expired in early 2025, Granger largely disappeared from the public eye. Her congressional website shows her last vote was on July 24, opposing a measure to cut the salary of the deputy assistant administrator for pesticide programs to $1, just days after Joe Biden canceled his presidential reelection campaign over questions about his age and mental fitness.
That fact prompted a reporter from the Dallas Express to find out where Granger was. Calls to her offices went straight to voicemail and there were no signs of ongoing business at her constituency office.
The reporter, Carlos Turcios, eventually received a tip from a local resident that Granger had moved to an assisted living center that specialized in memory care. After going to the facility in question to determine if Granger was indeed living there, the assistant principal confirmed, “This is her house,” according to a story Turcios published in the Dallas Express on Friday.
Neither Granger nor her staff could immediately be reached for comment Sunday. But local and state Republican leaders were among those who said they were concerned about Granger’s reporting.
Bo French, the chairman of the Republican Party of Tarrant County, Texas, told the Dallas Express that the “lack of representation for [Granger’s district] is disturbing to say the least.”
“Extremely important votes” on disaster relief, the debt ceiling and the U.S.-Mexico border have taken place since Granger’s last vote, French said. “And Kay Granger [was] nowhere to be found. … We deserve better.”
In a social media post, Republican Texas state committeeman Rolando Garcia added that Granger’s need to live in a memory care facility suggests she may already have been “in visible decline” when she successfully ran for re-election in 2022.
“A sad and humiliating way to end her political career,” Garcia wrote. “Sad that no one cared enough to ‘take the keys’ before she got to this moment. And a sad commentary on the gerontocracy of Congress.”
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise – both Republicans from Louisiana – praised Granger at an event in her honor in Washington DC in November. Johnson idolized her as “a champion for Texas,” “a loyal public servant,” and “a loyal friend,” while Scalise complimented her as “a tough conservative.”
Earlier, in February, Johnson and Scalise both signed a statement saying one of “the most troubling parts” of a special counsel report on Biden’s handling of classified documents was about “how the president’s memory…’ has significant limitations ‘had”.
After Biden performed poorly in a debate against Trump in June and raised questions about his mental acuity, Johnson urged the president’s Office to invoke a constitutional amendment allowing his replacement.
Biden, 82, dropped out of the Nov. 5 election on July 21, or three days before Granger’s last recorded vote in Congress. He backed Vice President Kamala Harris, 60, to succeed him, although Donald Trump, 78, defeated her to secure a second presidency from January.
Meanwhile, Granger’s fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives demanded that U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testify before Congress over his failure to promptly disclose to the White House a hospitalization due to complications from a surgery to treat prostate cancer.
Granger was the first woman to serve as mayor of Fort Worth and also become a Republican member of Congress. She was instrumental in securing more military funding, in part because a Lockheed Martin factory builds F-35 fighter jets in her district.
On Friday, Granger’s Facebook page posted a photo of her with a group of assistants described as “the best.”
The post was flooded with comments about the scandal broken by the Dallas Express, including one that read: “Are these the people who have been hiding the fact that you are in a situation [memory] healthcare institution? Fraud!”
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The Associated Press contributed to the reporting
