‘Need to do some norm changing’: Granger’s case spurs renewed debate over ailing lawmakers

Congress has long been home to aging politicians facing serious health woes. But the case of retiring Rep. Kay Granger is the latest evidence that a new generation of Washington players are growing fed up with the tradition of shielding officials’ infirmities from the world.

Reporting by a conservative activist on Friday about the 81-year-old Texas Republican — who until last April chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee — prompted her family to reveal that she has been struggling with dementia and residing in an assisted-living facility, despite continuing to hold office. Granger hasn’t cast a vote in Congress since July.

The revelations are sparking a bipartisan backlash and drawing scrutiny to other elderly lawmakers. Some of the toughest comments have emerged from the right, with the Granger news prompting Elon Musk to float cognitive tests for elected officials and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky saying he’s “more concerned about the congressmen who have dementia and are still voting.”

“Congress should do its job, and if you can’t do your job, maybe you shouldn’t be there,” 44-year-old Rep. Tony Gonzales, another Texas Republican, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

The Granger episode caps off a year in which weaknesses that come with age played a major role in accelerating the ouster of senior officials in Washington, including President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 campaign and a more recent move by House Democrats to force out older members trying to hold on to top committee posts. It sets the stage for lawmakers to take a harder line, with the next Congress poised to include 10 senators and 24 House members older than the average U.S. life expectancy of 77.5 years.

“We need to do some norm changing at a minimum,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), 60, said in an interview Monday. “It should really be unacceptable for members to be completely missing from communications with the public and with their own colleagues for months at a time.”

He added: “Loyalty is a super important part of the work we do, but there is a point at which that becomes detrimental to the institution and to our democracy — and I think we do need to have a conversation about that.”

Another extreme case played out just last year: The late Sen. Dianne Feinstein was absent for months before public pressure forced her to return to the Senate, where her mental and physical deterioration was on full display. She died while still serving in the Senate, at age 90.

Top party leaders have had various problems, too; Mitch McConnell, 82, had to deliver his parting speech as Senate Republican leader in an arm cast and with a visible face bandage after the latest in a series of falls. He had at least two incidents last year in which he took lengthy pauses in the middle of public speeches, which his office blamed on “lightheadedness,” though he announced shortly after he’d be stepping down from the Senate GOP leader role. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 84, broke her hip and had to undergo surgery while on official travel overseas this month.

There are some signs of limited movement — in what was considered a shocking move earlier this month, House Democrats started taking steps toward confronting their aging committee leadership. They ousted ailing Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) from his top spot atop the Agriculture Committee after months of shaky attendance — and saw Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) step aside from their posts atop the Judiciary and Natural Resources committees, respectively, to make way for younger successors. (House Republicans have term limits on their committee heads, which typically prevents older members from holding gavels into the twilights of their careers.)

The Senate does not have the same history. After years of issues with Feinstein that staffers and lawmakers refused to talk about, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer eventually privately asked her to cede the Judiciary Committee gavel she held, as she struggled with rampant memory issues. Before that, the late Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who needed the help of aides to maneuver around the Capitol and suffered obvious short-term memory difficulties while chairing the Appropriations Committee, had also been suffering health issues for years before giving up his gavel.

Still, it is precisely because so many politicians are of advanced age that lawmakers can generate little momentum or energy with any attempt to alter the status quo. Most lawmakers who publicly weighed in on Granger have expressed regret or anger about her specific situation, without proposing wider solutions.

“The public is entitled to far greater transparency about the health of the elected officials who represent them,” said 36-year-old Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) of the Granger situation. “The incapacitation of an elected official is a material fact that should be disclosed to the public, rather than concealed by staff. Transparency, not cover-ups, should be the norm.”

It may become an even more salient issue for the parties in the next Congress. Republicans will hold a narrow 53-47 advantage in the Senate and just an effective 217-215 majority to start in the House. Dozens of lawmakers commonly miss votes for various issues; for example, 29 House members didn’t vote on legislation to keep the government funded just last Friday.

Four House Democrats — the late Reps. Donald McEachin (Va.), Donald Payne Jr. (N.J.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas) and Bill Pascrell (N.J.) — and Feinstein died before or during the current Congress alone.

It’s a sad and quiet ending for Granger, a towering figure in modern Texas politics. She became the first Republican woman elected to Congress from Texas in 1996 after serving as mayor of Fort Worth. She rose up the ranks throughout her time in Washington and eventually became the first GOP woman to lead the Appropriations Committee in 2023.

But there were signs she and her staff knew her health challenges were becoming more pronounced. She gave up her gavel atop the Appropriations Committee in April and announced she would not run for reelection. She very visibly struggled to deliver remarks on a spending bill package on the House floor in March, shortly before she relinquished her Appropriations gavel.

Her son, Brandon, told The Dallas Morning News that his mother is experiencing “dementia issues” that have kept her away from Washington and have her residing in a senior living facility. The acknowledgement only came after The Dallas Express, another publication, reported the congresswoman was residing in a memory care facility, which her family subsequently denied.

Still, her staff was not transparent about her status, posting pictures and issuing a press release after she was able to make it to Washington for a portrait unveiling — with quotes from GOP luminaries like Speaker Mike Johnson and current Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.). Her account on X, purporting to be the congresswoman, thanked a series of interns on Dec. 20.

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