JUST IN: ‘Missing’ Congresswoman Turns Up At Retirement Facility

No silver alert is needed now that a congresswoman who hasn’t been seen for months was found by constituents to be residing at a nursing home, raising questions about her ability to serve in office.

Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), who has served in the U.S. House since 1997, now lives at a “memory care facility” in Texas, according to sources who spoke with Fox News. The 81-year-old Republican hasn’t been present for a vote since July 24th and has missed 54% of votes this year, which has baffled reformers who cite gerontocracy as a hurdle to effective governing. The Dallas Express first reported Granger’s location.

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In a sign of how acutely aware her office is of the poor optics, a source told Fox that Granger is not in a memory care unit, though acknowledged that the facility provides memory care in addition to other services. The person characterized Granger’s new home as a retirement facility that addresses her “health challenges” and said Granger remains “deeply grateful for the outpouring of care and concern.”

“As many of my family, friends, and colleagues have known, I have been navigating some unforeseen health challenges over the past year,” Granger said in the statement. “However, since early September, my health challenges have progressed, making frequent travel to Washington both difficult and unpredictable. During this time, my incredible staff has remained steadfast, continuing to deliver exceptional constituent services, as they have for the past 27 years.”

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Granger, who did not seek reelection this year, previously served as the first female governor of Fort Worth, Texas from 1991 to 1995. She last faced serious opposition in 2000, and in 2008 defeated a Democratic challenger with 67% of the vote. Often described as a moderate Republican, Granger was a prominent local supporter of former President George W. Bush, who previously served as Texas’ governor, and helped rally Republican support for Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee.

A source in House leadership pointed to Granger’s appearance at the Capitol in November for the unveiling of her portrait as Appropriations Committee Chairwoman, a ceremony attended by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA). They acknowledged that the GOP’s paper-thin majority played a role in the lack of pressure put on Granger to resign her seat. “Frankly, we needed the numbers,” the source told Fox.

Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) blasted his colleague’s absence in a statement on Sunday after the news broke. “Kay Granger’s long absence reveals the problem with a Congress that rewards seniority & relationships more than merit & ideas. We have a sclerotic gerontocracy,” said the California Democrat. “We need term limits. We need to get big money out of politics so a new generation of Americans can run and serve.”

Before President Joe Biden ended his campaign, Khanna was less sure of pressuring the 81-year-old Democrat to bow out. “Age is different for different people,” he told ABC News in July, one month after the president’s cataclysmic debate against President-elect Donald Trump. “And that’s a personal decision that he has earned the right to make.”

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