Congresswoman Kay Granger, Republican from Texas, had been absent from public view for six months. She was not too long ago found dwelling in a dementia care residence.
Granger, a venerable determine within the Republican Get together and a consultant of Texas’s twelfth Congressional District since 1997, had not been seen casting a vote since July. She is 81 years of age.
Her disappearance from the political scene was initially shrouded in silence. However a reporter for the Dallas Express determined to begin asking questions. What he discovered was nothing in need of surprising.
After calls to Granger’s workplace went unanswered and visits to her area workplace yielded locked doorways and lined home windows, the reporter spoke to a constituent who supplied an unbelievable tip.
“The congresswoman has been residing at a neighborhood reminiscence care and assisted dwelling residence for a while after having been discovered wandering, misplaced, and confused in her former Cultural District/West seventh neighborhood,” they write.
It will be not possible to give you a stronger metaphor for the Republican institution. Or the state of our legislators typically.
The place Did Lacking Congresswoman Kay Granger Go?
Somewhat than simply taking the constituent’s phrase for it, the Dallas Specific reporter determined to go to the assisted care facility to inquire as to how Granger can be voting on the not too long ago handed spending invoice.
The Assistant Government Director for the senior dwelling facility informed the reporter he couldn’t meet with Ms. Granger however confirmed, “That is her residence.”
Granger had deliberate to retire in January, however her early departure from workplace is unsettling. The truth that she may simply disappear primarily with out the general public’s data, leaving her district with out illustration, is borderline prison.
If not for her – as a consequence of her psychological and emotional points – then actually for her employees, who saved it beneath wraps. It raises questions relating to the well-being of elected officers and the mechanisms in place to make sure transparency and accountability.
It raises questions on what sort of “service” her workplace was offering for the 700,000-odd Texans she was duly sworn to characterize. It raises questions on her colleagues, who certainly knew one thing was amiss – if not for her absence, then for the whole absence of congressional places of work that we taxpayers shovel over our cash to fund.
The Specific report hints strongly that the transfer to maintain her well being struggles secret was an try to permit staffers to maintain getting paid till she retired.
“Within the meantime, Congresswoman Granger and her employees at the moment stay on the taxpayer’s payroll till January third, 2025, ostensibly taking early retirement and an extended taxpayer-funded trip whereas District 12 taxpayers don’t have any illustration in Congress,” they write.
Propping up a senior citizen and masking up their poor well being to gather cash off their backs is elder abuse, and worse, it’s a prison breach of the general public belief.
81-year-old Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), who hasn’t been seen for six months, discovered dwelling in a dementia care facility.
Being a politician shouldn’t be a lifelong profession. It must be one thing one reluctantly does for the betterment of society.
It’s time Congress will get time period limits. pic.twitter.com/46jqalSCHT
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) December 22, 2024
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‘Very Speedy’ Decline
Kay Granger’s son, Brandon, spoke to the New York Post and indicated his mom had quickly declined as a consequence of dementia. Nonetheless, he claims indicators of that solely confirmed up after she moved into the assisted care residence.
The youthful Granger mentioned he helped transfer the congresswoman into the ability, and since then, her decline has been “very speedy and really troublesome.”
A separate supply states that any assertions that Ms. Granger is within the reminiscence care unit are “categorically false.” They contend that the ability is just a retirement residence.
“Lots of people there are youthful than she is. A number of them nonetheless work,” Brandon mentioned. “There’s nothing unsuitable with eager to be round individuals she will spend time with, have a cocktail with.”
“She simply determined to retire. She’s 81.”
She may have moved into the house in January when she formally retired. She may have voted nonetheless, if her psychological colleges have been sound. And you may’t say she merely developed indicators of dementia after shifting in whereas nonetheless insisting she’s not in a reminiscence care wing of the ability.
Granger issued an announcement by means of a spokesperson on the matter.
“I’m deeply grateful for the outpouring of care and concern over the previous a number of days,” she mentioned, in keeping with the assertion.
“As a lot of my household, associates, and colleagues have identified, I’ve been navigating some unexpected well being challenges over the previous 12 months. Nonetheless, since early September, my well being challenges have progressed making frequent journey to Washington each troublesome and unpredictable.”
That she doesn’t have the distinction or integrity to resign – or that she’s being taken benefit of by grifters for a paycheck – is yet one more metaphor for the outdated GOP.
