Rep. Kay Granger, Republican of Texas, has missed 4 months of votes in Congress after “having some dementia issues late in the year,” her son Brandon Granger instructed The Dallas Morning Information.
“It’s been a hard year,” stated the 52-year-old Brandon, who additionally shared that his mom resides in Traditions Senior Dwelling in Fort Value, Texas.
Questions concerning Granger’s deteriorating well being have been raised when The Dallas Specific reported that she had been seen wandering the neighborhood “lost and confused.”
Granger, who’s 81 years outdated, solid her final vote on Capitol Hill in July. She was chair of the Home Appropriations Committee till she stepped down in April. She didn’t run for reelection in November, and her days in Congress are waning along with her time period ending in January.
Her absence was felt final week throughout the chaotic negotiations as Home Republicans tried to legislate their means out of a authorities shutdown.
Even her Republican colleagues decried her operating for workplace regardless of the primary indicators of decline, calling the federal government a “congressional gerontocracy.”
“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,” State Republican Government Committeeman Rolando Garcia stated on X on Friday. “A sad and humiliating way to end her political career. Sad that nobody cared enough to ‘take away the keys’ before she reached this moment. And a sad commentary on the congressional gerontocracy.”
Granger’s absence reignites a debate on age and time period limits in Congress and the White Home, together with whether or not public officers must be required to move a cognitive check to serve.
People have witnessed the inevitable slowing that comes with age amongst different elected officers such because the late Dianne Feinstein; 91-year-old Chuck Grassley; 84-year-old Nancy Pelosi; and Mitch McConnell and President Joe Biden, each 82.
This previous month, Democrats, pressured to map out a brand new agenda after their defeat in November, have been clinging to long-held authorities positions and committee roles at the same time as youthful, extra progressive candidates and officers vie for his or her roles.
In a backroom deal reportedly led by Pelosi, 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was handed over for 74-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly for rating member of the Home Oversight Committee final week.
Whereas candidates should be at the very least 25 years outdated to be elected to the Home, 30 to be elected to the Senate, and 35 to develop into president, there are presently no time period or age limits for members of Congress regardless of being backed by the bulk of People throughout occasion strains.
Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, says the dearth of time period or age limits displays the self-interest of members of Congress.
“The incentives are all wrong: Stay too long, spend too much, serve The Firm & you’ll find yourself in powerful positions … for far too long. Meanwhile, staffers wielding power in your name will hide your declining mental and physical condition,” Lee stated on X on Sunday.
For a lot of, Granger’s case underscores the dangers of permitting profession politicians to stay in energy for many years, even once they’re now not able to performing their duties. It additionally raises an uncomfortable query: Is the political system doing sufficient to guard the pursuits of voters when their representatives now not can?
