Retiring Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth), who has missed a vote in Congress since the summer, said her son “is having dementia issues later this year.”
The 81-year-old congressman last voted in the House on the morning of July 24.
In a statement from his office, Granger thanked the public for their concerns and said that since early September, health issues have made frequent trips to Washington, D.C., “difficult and unpredictable.” said.
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“As many of my family, friends, and colleagues know, I have been navigating unexpected health challenges over the past year,” he said in a statement.
Granger added that he was able to return to Washington in November to hold meetings and oversee the office closure.
“It’s been a rough year,” Brandon Granger, 52, from South Carolina, told the Dallas Morning News on Sunday, adding that he was surprised at how quickly his health issues were progressing.
Brandon said his mother lives at Tradition Senior Living in Fort Worth but is not in a memory care facility, as some media reports have suggested. The facility has a memory care community on the same property, but Granger said she lives in an independent living facility.
Tradition Senior Living says on its website that it offers “resort-style living with ultra-comprehensive services” on “approximately six acres of grounds and miles of walking trails along the Trinity River.” Brandon said his mother took this action because she wanted to join a more active community of other seniors.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to live in a community with people your own age,” he says. “She’s in a building with a lot of very active contemporaries that she really loves. She goes to exercise classes and is always able to be around people and at this point in her life It’s great for her.”
Reached by phone Sunday, Tradition Senior Living said it could not confirm the individual’s housing status.
Granger has three children and five grandchildren, according to the council’s website.
She announced that she would not seek re-election in November 2023.
“It’s time for the next generation to step up, take office and become strong and courageous representatives of our people,” she said in a statement at the time.
After her announcement, state Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth) filed for the seat. He defeated businessman John O’Shea in the primary runoff and defeated Democrat Trey Hunt in the general election. He is scheduled to take office on January 3rd.
Mr. Granger missed several months of votes, ending his long tenure in Congress.
She missed the vote on the night of July 24 and the next day before the House went into recess for August. The House did not vote again until September 9th. Deputies went on the campaign trail after voting on September 25th and did not vote again until they returned on November 12th.
The final vote of the 118th Congress took place on Friday, with the House passing a spending bill to keep the government running. The record was 366-34. Granger was one of 29 councilors who did not vote.
Despite missing those votes, Mr. Granger attended a gala in Washington in mid-November celebrating his career on the House Appropriations Committee.
“As my term in Congress comes to a close, I leave office feeling fulfilled and optimistic that this chamber will continue to serve the best interests of the American people,” according to a press release. ” he said.
A photo of her smiling while looking at the official portrait released at the celebration was posted on her Professional X page.
Granger has set many “firsts” over the years. She served as the first female mayor of Fort Worth and was elected in 1996 as the first Republican female representative from Texas.
Last year, she became the first Republican woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee, the powerful committee responsible for writing federal spending bills.
In addition to age, the fact that House Republican rules impose a three-term limit on top committee positions was widely thought to be a factor in her decision to retire.
Without a waiver, she would have been forced to relinquish the gavel in the next Congress, as she had already served two terms as a Republican official during a time when Democrats controlled the House.
He resigned as chairman in March after Congress finalized its last spending bill.
Granger noted in a statement at the time that the appropriations process typically moves well beyond the fall deadline of an election year. He said he is resigning early to ensure a smooth transition to a new chair as the committee begins to focus on the next spending bill.
On the committee, Granger is the leading Republican voice on national security. She pushed for solid defense spending and advocated the introduction of systems made by Fort Worth-area defense contractors, such as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jets.
She secured funding for other district priorities, including the $1.1 billion Trinity River Vision/Central City Flood Control Project.
Hardline conservatives have often criticized Mr. Granger as a symbol of the Republican establishment, which is too eager to compromise with Democrats and is only a Republican in name.
Those criticisms intensified last year when she joined a relatively small group of Republicans who blocked House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan from becoming chairman.
Months before announcing his retirement, Mr O’Shea challenged Mr Granger in the primary, accusing her of being the “matriarch of the opposition”.
