Kay Granger Is Residing In Assisted-living Facility, Her Son Tells Dallas Publication

The son of Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) confirmed that his mother has "dementia issues" that have kept her away from Congress in recent months, the Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

“It’s been a hard year,” Brandon Granger, 52, was quoted as saying by the newspaper. He also said she was living in Traditions Senior Living in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kay Granger, 81, had been the chair of the House Appropriations Committee until stepping down from that position in April, making her absence particularly noticeable during the recent negotiations over legislation designed to avert a government shutdown.

Her situation attracted attention after an article was published in The Dallas Express ("Where is Congresswoman Kay Granger?") in which it was reported that Granger had been residing in "a local memory care and assisted living home for some time after having been found wandering lost and confused in her former Cultural District/West 7th neighborhood."

The publication noted she had not voted on the House floor since July.

A statement from Granger's office specified that she "is not in memory care" but did not deny other elements of The Dallas Express article. (Her son also said she was not in a memory care unit.) Brandon Granger told the Dallas Morning News: “There’s nothing wrong with someone wanting to live in a community with other folks their age."

Kay Granger's office also provided a statement from her:

"I am deeply grateful for the outpouring of care and concern over the past several days. As many of my family, friends, and colleagues have known, I have been navigating some unforeseen health challenges over the past year. However, since early September, my health challenges have progressed making frequent travel to Washington both difficult and unpredictable. During this time, my staff has remained steadfast, continuing to deliver exceptional constituent services, as they have for the past 27 years."

Granger, who was first elected in 1996, announced in 2023 that she would not seek another term in office. Craig Goldman, a fellow Republican from Fort Worth, won the open seat in November.

The news of her situation prompted some quips about the general age of American leadership. "I’m more concerned about the congressmen who have dementia and are still voting," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote on X.

Others saw a larger structural problem.

"Kay Granger's long absence reveals the problem with a Congress that rewards seniority & relationships more than merit & ideas. We have a sclerotic gerontocracy," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on X. "We need term limits. We need to get big money out of politics so a new generation of Americans can run and serve."

Granger is one of 23 members of Congress (16 in the House and seven senators) who are at least 80 years old, a group that is led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is 91.