A Republican lawmaker who missed months of votes in Washington and was later found to be residing in an assisted-living facility highlighted an unusual reality: how easy it can be for sitting politicians to quietly disappear from Congress.
Former Texas Rep. Kay Granger’s prolonged absence last year was first reported by The Dallas Express in December — her office eventually acknowledged she had been experiencing health challenges during her last year in Congress and her son told The Dallas Morning News she had been experiencing “some dementia issues.” Granger left her post as Appropriations chair in March when she announced she’d retire at the end of the last Congress, but her absence apparently made little difference when Republicans held the majority by about eight seats and could only afford to lose three votes.
Though Speaker Mike Johnson did suffer some embarrassing setbacks when Republican bills couldn’t pass on the floor, members said Granger’s whereabouts made little difference as Democrats held the Senate and White House — and as such, legislation was going to need some Democratic support.
“[The whip team] knew where she was at all times,” Rep. Mark Alford said of Granger. “If they had needed her vote for any particular thing, I’m sure that she would have been here to vote.”
This year, a Republican governing trifecta is looking to quickly advance its agenda in Washington, but again don’t have a comfortable margin in the House. Johnson is going to need nearly every Republican lawmaker to fall in line to get anything done. And beyond getting his party on the same page, GOP leaders will also have to make sure all their colleagues actually show up to vote.
“That’s something we’re going to have to navigate,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who was on the whip team in the last Congress. “I mean, over the last two years, we’ve managed, and people are going to be absent for different reasons. But unless it’s an emergency situation or a death in the family, they really need to be here to do their job.”
Republicans in the House have gotten used to operating on a thin margin — leadership had to remind lawmakers to avoid dangerous activities while they were only up 217-212 last year. But the stakes are even higher now as they plan to enact President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious agenda, and they acknowledge that their party can’t afford for a member to disappear for months this time around.
“Each and every day, you’re sort of at the mercy if somebody sadly is hurt or sick or has a family crisis,” said Rep. Tom Cole, who replaced Granger as Appropriations chair after she stepped down. “Hopefully members will take their job pretty seriously and be here, because we won’t get much done if they’re not.”
Johnson’s office did not comment. Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Majority Whip Tom Emmer did not respond to requests for comment. But lawmakers placed much of the responsibility of monitoring absences at leadership’s feet.
Republicans said communication is key: life happens, and they empathize. But with such a small margin, they say leadership needs to hear, every single time, if the conference is down a vote on the floor because someone can’t be there.
“The leadership’s got to know who’s missing. They gotta know who’s on, who’s late, who’s sick, who’s going on vacation or wherever it may be,” Rep. Don Bacon said. Leadership “is gonna make it clear: If you got a problem with attendance, you gotta call the whip.”
But lawmakers also acknowledge that there’s only so much they can do to hold members accountable for attendance.
Last Congress, two Democrats outpaced Granger for missed votes: Reps. Raúl Grijalva and Dwight Evans, both of whom battled serious health issues. Significantly, both members made their diagnoses (cancer in Grijalva’s case and a stroke in Evans’ case) public, whereas Granger’s office did not disclose her condition.
“There are ways of working around crises so that you’re here. Not every vote is going to be that close, but some will be razor thin, so I do hope everybody makes an effort,” Rep. Chris Smith told NOTUS.
Some House Republicans weren’t that worried about attendance dooming party priorities.
“The whip’s office has that under control. I’m not concerned about that, and [Democrats] usually have people missing on their side, too, so we should be fine,” Rep. Greg Steube told NOTUS. (Steube missed a majority of votes in the first three months of the last Congress while recovering from serious injuries after falling off a ladder at home.)
But a miscounting did doom some GOP priorities last year. During an impeachment vote against homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, Republicans thought they could lose three votes and still pass the measure based on Democrats’ attendance. Rep. Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, then came to the floor in a hospital gown after a surgery, tying the vote and killing the impeachment.
One option for Republicans might be to bring back proxy voting, which allowed members to have a colleague vote on their behalf during the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress had record-high vote participation rates in 2021 and 2022 because of it, but Republicans ended the practice at the beginning of last Congress. Participation in votes has since returned to its pre-pandemic rate, according to Roll Call.
But several members said they hadn’t heard any discussion about bringing it back to help maintain attendance with such a slim majority. While Malliotakis said the party “[doesn’t] really support the idea of proxy voting,” she pointed to legislation from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna that would allow it for members on maternity leave.
The end of proxy voting meant lawmakers fighting cancer had to rearrange their treatment schedules so they could make it to votes. It also caused travel complications for Luna, who dealt with health issues during and after her first pregnancy, but a bipartisan resolution she spearheaded to restore proxy voting for lawmakers who had just given birth didn’t go anywhere last Congress.
Luna told NOTUS attendance is “a very big deal” for Republicans this Congress, so she plans to introduce a “better” version of that proxy voting proposal soon to address health and personal matters for lawmakers that could prevent them from attending. But, she said, in a case like Granger’s, stepping down needs to be an option.
“There comes a time when you need to put the job aside and focus on your health, and then allow someone else to assume the position to best execute their constitutional duty,” Luna told NOTUS.
Granger’s team did not respond to a request for comment, but she’s been criticized by fellow Republicans for not being more transparent about her health and whereabouts.
Still, some lawmakers like Alford acknowledged the reality for their party:
“The two busiest people this Congress are gonna be Tom Emmer and the House physician.”
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Emily Kennard and Nuha Dolby are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.