The Case of Missing GOP Rep. Kay Granger

Over the weekend, a rather disturbing report surfaced regarding Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), 81.

She has been absent from voting for months, and now we know why.

Granger was reportedly moved to an assisted living facility, with reports of her now suffering from symptoms of dementia.

Where Did She Go?

Granger has not been seen in Congress since late July except for a photo unveiling last month. Since the July 24 vote, she has not made another vote.

In fact, virtually nobody has seen her, yet this is the first report that anything was wrong.

When a local Dallas outlet reached out to her to see where she had been, all they received was a recorded message: “I am sorry we are unable to answer your phone right now. We are really glad you called us. Please leave your name, phone number and a brief message and someone in our office will call you back as soon as possible.”

As it turns out, reports surfaced over the weekend that Granger has been put in an assisted living facility, and she was reportedly suffering from dementia.

Her family pushed back on the report, saying that she was living in a facility, but she was not living in the memory care unit.

Her son, Brandon Granger, stated, “They have a memory care facility there, but she’s in [an] independent living facility. It’s a nice condo. I helped her move in.”

According to Granger’s camp, the party leadership was well aware of what was happening.

The unnamed source stated, “In July, as she started preparing for the future for her retirement, she made the decision to downsize and move into this [new residence].

“Had she known that she would be unable to vote for the last few weeks of the session, she would have made different preparations.

“As with most illnesses, it’s hard to predict.

“She has been in contact with leadership from the beginning, letting them know what was going on, and would have been happy to travel back to DC if they needed her for a specific vote, and they knew that.”

So, in essence, she has basically been retired from office since July, but did not formally step down, so the people of her district had no representation in Congress for the last six months of the year.

This is yet more proof that if we are not going to have term limits or mandatory retirement age for Congress, at the very least, once they pass a certain age, members should be required to have a cognizance test every year, even every six months, to show they are capable of performing their duties.

In this case, she could have stepped down and allowed Governor Abbott to appoint Rep.-elect Craig Goldman (R-TX) to fill her seat so he could hit the ground running for the next term.

This issue clearly needs to be addressed by Congress, but we all know that will not happen since roughly half of Congress is over the age of 65.