The revelation that Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) has been living in an assisted living facility is fueling scrutiny of aging public officials, highlighting the shifting norms surrounding lawmaker health, seniority, and for how long it is appropriate to hang on to power.

“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 said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday in light of the news.

“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 said.

Granger, 81, made history as the first woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee. She stepped down from the post in March after Congress completed fiscal year 2024 funding and declined to run for reelection — and then missed every vote after July 24.

Her office confirmed a Dallas Express report last weekend that she was living in the assisted living facility, but denied she was in “memory care” — though Granger’s son told the Dallas Morning News that she had been “having some dementia issues late in the year.”

Outgoing Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) told the Boston Globe that part of her decision to retire was in hopes of encouraging other aging lawmakers to step aside.

“I’m trying to set a better example,” Kuster, 68, told 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 grow older have steadily changed through the decades.

Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the fourth-longest serving Senator, was 100 years old when he left office in January 2003. A New York Times report in 2001 described Thurmond’s “visible deterioration” and that he sometimes seemed confused at Senate hearings. His........

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