The revelation that Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) has been dwelling in an assisted dwelling facility is fueling scrutiny of ageing public officers, highlighting the shifting norms surrounding lawmaker well being, seniority, and for a way lengthy it’s applicable to hold on to energy.
“Sadly, you know, some of these members wait until it’s too long to things have gone too far,” fellow Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales mentioned on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday in gentle of the information.
“I think this goes- gets back to the root of it. Congress should do its job, and if you can’t do your job, maybe you shouldn’t be there,” Gonzales mentioned.
Granger, 81, made historical past as the primary lady to chair the Home Appropriations Committee. She stepped down from the submit in March after Congress accomplished fiscal yr 2024 funding and declined to run for reelection — after which missed each vote after July 24.
Her workplace confirmed a Dallas Specific report final weekend that she was dwelling within the assisted dwelling facility, however denied she was in “memory care” — although Granger’s son informed the Dallas Morning Information that she had been “having some dementia issues late in the year.”
Outgoing Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) informed the Boston Globe that a part of her determination to retire was in hopes of encouraging different ageing lawmakers to step apart.
“I’m trying to set a better example,” Kuster, 68, informed the Boston Globe. “I think there are colleagues — and some of whom are still very successful and very productive — but others who just stay forever.”
The norms surrounding questioning lawmakers’ capabilities as they get older have steadily modified via the many years.
Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the fourth-longest serving Senator, was 100 years outdated when he left workplace in January 2003. A New York Occasions report in 2001 described Thurmond’s “visible deterioration” and that he generally appeared confused at Senate hearings. His pals mentioned that the senator had hip illnesses and refused to put on a listening to assist, however insisted he was “neither sick nor senile.”
Elevated scrutiny of ageing officers has been additional heightened by President Biden.
Biden, 82, confronted assaults over and issues about his psychological health for years, even earlier than he gained the presidency in 2020. White Home employees and administration officers typically forcefully defended his talents.
That reached a tipping level over the summer season, culminating in Biden’s dismal debate efficiency in opposition to Trump that prompted a Democratic Social gathering insurrection and compelled him to finish his reelection bid this yr.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) additionally confronted waves of stories about reminiscence points that led to questions on her potential to do the job previous to her dying in 2023 at age 90.
It’s not solely issues about psychological health which have elevated. Bodily issues have additionally put a highlight on an ageing Congress.
Longtime Senate Republican Chief Mitch McConnell (Ky.), 82, had two incidents final yr by which he visibly froze whereas delivering remarks. His workplace attributed the moments to him being lightheaded. McConnell additionally suffered a fall and acquired medical consideration on the Capitol earlier this month. And former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 84, broke her hip in a fall this month whereas abroad and required surgical procedure.
Whereas neither lawmaker is about to be in get together management subsequent yr, each are set to be in Congress subsequent yr, with McConnell slated to chair the Senate Guidelines Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Protection.
Well being points helped spur a shift in not less than one Democratic Social gathering rating member place, the place seniority has sometimes been the dominant consideration.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who’s 76 and had missed Home votes for the majority of 2024 as a consequence of therapy for most cancers, backed off searching for one other time period as rating member on the Home Pure Assets Committee after getting a problem from Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), 60.
And Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), 79, misplaced his bid for reelection to be rating member on the Home Agriculture Committee amid reported issues about his psychological capability and an absence as a consequence of therapy for again points. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), 52, gained that seat.
However for all of the chatter about Democrats embracing a generational shift in gentle of these modifications, the get together’s slate of Home committee leaders continues to be dominated by senior lawmakers – each by way of longevity and age.
Democrats opted to place Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who’s 74 and battling esophageal most cancers, atop the Home Oversight Committee quite than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), 35. Many rating members didn’t face competitors for his or her highly effective positions, together with Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), 81 of the Appropriations Committee and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), 86, of the Monetary Companies Committee.
The appointments present that age alone is just not the only real level of consideration as Washington grapples with how one can take care of ageing public officers – on either side of the aisle.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 91, is about to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee subsequent yr. One in every of Grassley’s 2022 marketing campaign adverts featured him doing push-ups and jogging within the mornings.
President-elect Trump is now 78, the identical age Biden was when he was elected to the White Home in 2020. And whereas Trump has confronted some scrutiny for his age and psychological capability, public notion of his talents is way more favorable for him than for Biden.
A November 12-17 Pew Analysis ballot discovered that 55 p.c of Individuals mentioned the phrase “mentally sharp” describes Trump very effectively or pretty effectively, whereas a July Pew survey performed simply after the Biden-Trump debate discovered solely a couple of quarter of voters mentioned the identical for Biden.
As scrutiny will increase, although, there’s not a transparent method to tackle issues with ageing lawmakers apart from their resignations, retirements, or electoral defeats.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) in a submit on X mentioned that Granger’s state of affairs “reveals the problem with a Congress that rewards seniority & relationships more than merit & ideas”
“We need term limits. We need to get big money out of politics so a new generation of Americans can run and serve,” Khanna mentioned.
When former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley ran for president, she known as for competency assessments for politicians over the age of 70.
Whereas the Structure’s twenty fifth Modification outlines a process to take care of a president who’s incapacitated, there isn’t any particular protocol for coping with a member of Congress who’s unable to carry out his or her duties.
The Home in 1981 declared a seat vacant after Rep. Gladys Midday Spellman (D-Md.) fell right into a coma earlier than she was in a position to take the oath of workplace, by no means regaining consciousness. However there isn’t any precedent for forcibly eradicating an incapacitated member who had taken the oath of workplace that Congress. Both the Home or Senate could expel a member by a two-thirds vote.
However past the non-public sensitives of getting colleagues decide whether or not an ageing or sick colleague is able to serving, the political realities of a closely-divided Congress give no incentive to vary these norms.
Within the Home, after a couple of members depart to take positions within the Trump administration, Republicans will be capable to spare no defections on party-line laws, assuming all members are current, till the vacancies are stuffed.
However absences — or shock appearances — might make a giant distinction.
In a single dramatic vote earlier this yr, Democrats unexpectedly defeated Republicans’ first try and impeach Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas when Rep. Al Inexperienced (D-Texas),who had been absent earlier within the day as a consequence of stomach surgical procedure, confirmed up for the vote — nonetheless in his hospital garb.
