Rep. Granger’s Assisted Living Revelation Highlights Aging Leadership

America’s elected leadership is getting older, and it’s becoming a prime concern for voters.

Earlier this year, The Dallas Express reported that Texas Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth), 81, had been moved to an elderly assisted care facility in July while still continuing to serve as a member of Congress. She had not been present for chamber votes since July, and her district office was locked and empty. It’s a far fall from influence for the first Republican woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations. Granger moved to the facility after announcing she would not run again in 2024.

Granger is just the latest in a long list of concerns voters have about how old their leadership is. President-elect Donald Trump is the oldest person ever elected to the office, beating the previous record set by Joe Biden, who is the current president. Both men have been the subject of extensive speculation about possible dementia, declining health, and other age-related factors.

Senator Diane Feinstein (D-California) died in office at the age of 90 in 2023 amid widespread calls to step down over her deteriorating health. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), 82 and still one of the most powerful men in the upper chamber, has also been plagued by concerns for his health after several episodes where he appeared to forget where he was during remarks.

The trend toward a very elderly Congress has been growing. Elected leadership has always averaged older than the general population, but it has accelerated in the last decade. According to analysis by 538, this is the oldest Congress has ever been. In 2023, the average senator was 65, old enough to retire with Social Security benefits, and the average representative was 57. By contrast, the average American age in 2024 is just 38.

Why so many older elected officials? Part of it is that the elderly have an outsized impact on American elections. Voters over 65 alone make up more than a quarter of all votes cast in the last election, and voters over 45 made up 66 percent of the electorate. Older people are more likely to vote for older people.

Gerrymandering and political division also has a role. As partisan district drawing increases, fewer seats are competitive. Granger has not faced serious Democratic challenge since elected in 1996. Neither did Feinstein in solidly blue California or McConnell in ruby red Kentucky. The safer a district or state is, the more likely it is that a person in that seat will remain there until they voluntarily retire or die.

This worries Americans. The age of both Biden and Trump have been issues since 2016, with more than half of people believing that their advanced ages either impact their abilities to serve as president or should disqualify them according to a recent YouGov poll. Though representatives for Granger say she would have returned to Washington if needed for a vote, her almost complete abdication of her duties amid understandable aging heath concerns does not really serve her district as it should be.