Texas rep who missed 6 months of votes found living at senior care facility
The son of Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, reportedly categorized the health decline of the 81-year-old congresswoman as ‘very rapid.’ The ‘Outnumbered’ panel reacted to the news and the broader debate surrounding term limits in Congress.
The news that Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, has been living in a retirement facility and experiencing a “very rapid” decline set off a social media outcry this week across the political spectrum.
Among these voices included billionaire Elon Musk, a key adviser and supporter of President-elect Donald Trump.
“Maybe we should have some basic cognitive test for elected officials? This is getting crazy …” Musk said, in reference to the news about Granger.
RETIRING GOP CONGRESSWOMAN’S DECLINE HAS BEEN ‘VERY RAPID,’ SON SAYS
Elon Musk said there should be a basic cognitive test for public officials. (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)
Former Department of Education press secretary Angela Morabito said Granger’s staff was possibly “complicit.”
“WOW: Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), who hasn’t voted on a bill in six months, has been living in a nursing home in secret. Records show she has a staff of 25. If any of them knew – and it would be hard not to know – they are complicit,” Morabito shared on X.
Former Texas state representative Jonathan Stickland also commented about Granger, expressing that he was aware of her memory issues.
“No one should be mad at Rep. Kay Granger. Six years ago (as an elected official who worked regularly with/around her) it was obvious she had serious memory issues. She has had no idea what was going on for a while. Yet her friends, family, and staff lied to her. They failed to protect her, and left her in office for their own benefit. Be mad at them. Praying for peace for Rep. Granger,” Stickland posted.
Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee said the news about Granger marked a “compelling case for term limits.”
Granger’s absence was first reported by the Dallas Express on Friday, which quoted a constituent of her district who said she was residing in a memory care facility in Texas.
BIDEN ADMIN OFFICIALS NOTICED STAMINA ISSUES IN PRESIDENT’S FIRST FEW MONTHS IN OFFICE: REPORT
Axios political reporter Hans Nichols admitted to missing the story about Granger due to limited resources for journalists on CNN Monday.
“[We] … have limited resources and limited time to report all these stories out. That said, we should have gotten the Kay Granger story. I mean, I’ll own part of that, as someone that spends some time on the Hill. You know, collectively we’re all guilty. Like, you know, individually, it’s hard to parse out guilt,” Nichols said.
Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, leaves the House Republicans’ caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington in 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The Granger story comes after a year that was defined by President Biden’s cognitive and mental fitness issues that ultimately led to him being forced out of the Democratic nomination. Reports have emerged of a coordinated effort to conceal his diminishment from the public.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who repeatedly dismissed questions about Biden’s ability to serve, told CNN in June 2022 that she herself had a hard time keeping up with the president.
“Don, you’re asking me this question,” a visibly stunned Jean-Pierre exclaimed. “Oh my gosh. He’s the President of the United States.”
DON LEMON SPARS WITH TIKTOKER OVER ‘PRESIDENT MUSK’ ACCUSATION
Social media erupted on Monday after President Biden announced he would commute the sentences of nearly all the inmates on federal death row. (AP )
Executive director for Women for America First, Kylie Jane Kremer, wrote on X, “Not just leadership but all colleagues that were aware. Just as we are outraged about Biden, there should be equal outrage about Kay Granger.”
Members of Biden’s staff noticed his fading stamina and increasing confusion within the first few months of his term, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal based its report on interviews with nearly 50 people, including current and former White House staffers who interacted directly with the president, as well as lawmakers.
California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said on X that that Congress had a “sclerotic gerontocracy.”
“Kay Granger’s long absence reveals the problem with a Congress that rewards seniority & relationships more than merit & ideas. We have a sclerotic gerontocracy. We need term limits. We need to get big money out of politics, so a new generation of Americans can run and serve,” Khann posted.
Retiring Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, at the unveiling of her portrait as Appropriations Committee Chairwoman in Washington, D.C. (The Office of Kay Granger)
Progressive independent journalist Ken Klippenstein posted in reference to a video of Granger speaking on the House floor, earlier in 2024.
“The claim that no one knew about congresswoman Kay Granger’s dementia is laughable. Here she is speaking before Congress back in March, stammering and stumbling over every sentence while relying verbatim on a written script. This is painful to watch,” Klippenstein shared.
Granger, who is 81, did not seek re-election and is retiring at the end of this congressional term next month. She has largely remained absent from the Capitol in recent months, having last cast a vote on July 24. She was not present for over 54% of votes this year. She also stepped down from her position within the House Appropriations Committee, which drafts the bills that fund the federal government.
