The case of Rep. Kay Granger, a retiring 81-year-old Republican, is stirring controversy over Congress’ trend of shielding elderly lawmakers and conversations around reform. Recent reporting suggests the Texas representative is struggling with dementia and is staying at an assisted-living facility — all while holding office.

Here’s everything you need to know about Kay Granger, the embattled Texas Republican alleged to be living in a retirement home.

After nearly five months without casting a vote, the case of absentee congresswoman Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) appears to have been solved. In an investigation published on Friday, The Dallas Express revealed that it had found that the outgoing legislator was living at an assisted living home in Fort Worth,

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, the retiring Fort Worth Republican who has been frequently absent from Congress for months, said in a statement Sunday she has been facing “health challenges.”

Two weeks before the 119th U.S. Congress began, a story began to circulate online that U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, a Republican from Texas who had missed votes since July 2024, had been "found" in a dementia care facility. For example, the conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted the rumor on Dec. 21, 2024 ( archived ):

Rep. Kay Granger has not cast a vote in Congress since July and stepped down from the powerful House Appropriations Committee in March.

Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas is having "unforeseen health challenges” that have worsened in the final months of her more than two decades in Congress, a statement from her office said Monday.

Granger, 81, missed 279 of the House’s 517 votes in 2024, more than the 278 votes she missed between 1997 and 2006. Her last vote was July 24 on an amendment to reduce the salary of an Environmental Protection Agency official to $1. By contrast, Granger missed only 32 votes in 2023.