Kay Granger
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox officeholder Norvell Kay Granger (born January 18, 1943) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 12th congressional district from 1997 to 2025. A Republican, Granger chaired the House Committee on Appropriations from 2023 to 2024.
A former teacher and businesswoman, Granger served on the zoning commission of Fort Worth and on the Fort Worth City Council. She was elected as the first female mayor of Fort Worth in 1991 and served in that capacity until 1995. Granger was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She is the first Republican woman elected to represent Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Republican woman to chair the House Committee on Appropriations.<ref name=":n109" />
Granger did not seek reelection in 2024. Following several months of absence from the Capitol, she was confirmed in December 2024 to have been residing in a senior living facility in Fort Worth since July 2024.
Early life
Granger was born in Greenville, Texas. She graduated from Eastern Hills High School in 1961 and from Texas Wesleyan University in 1965.<ref name="history" />
Early career
Granger is a former teacher and businesswoman. She served on the zoning commission of Fort Worth from 1981 to 1989 and on the Fort Worth City Council from 1989 to 1991. Granger was elected as the first female mayor of Fort Worth in 1991 and served in that capacity until 1995.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="history">Template:Cite web</ref>
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
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Granger was first elected to Congress in 1996. She is a Republican.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> After U.S. Representative Pete Geren announced he would retire in 1996, both the Democratic and Republican parties worked to recruit Granger to run for his seat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Granger represented Texas's 12th congressional district from 1997 to 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2020, Granger received the endorsement of President Donald Trump for her re-election campaign.<ref name="auto2">Template:Cite web</ref>
Tenure
Granger was elected Conference Vice Chair, the fourth-ranking position among House Republicans, in 2006. She served as chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations. She also sat on the United States House Committee on Appropriations's Subcommittee on Defense (she is the first woman to do so) and the Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Subcommittee. Granger also served as a House Deputy Whip.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Granger was a member of the House Appropriations Committee for 25 years. She served as the ranking member of the Committee.<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref> After the Republican Party gained a majority in the House of Representatives in the 2022 elections,<ref name="auto"/> she was named chair of the Committee in January 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Granger is the first woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee.<ref name="auto"/> Granger stepped down from the Appropriations Committee chairship in April 2024.<ref name="choi" /><ref name="examine" />
After being diagnosed with COVID-19, Granger was not present at Trump's second impeachment on January 13, 2021. She was one of four Republicans who did not vote on the impeachment. Granger stated that she opposed Trump's impeachment, however.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Retirement
On October 30, 2023, Granger confirmed that she would not run for re-election in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On March 22, 2024, she announced that she would step down as chair of the House Appropriations Committee as soon as the Republican Steering Committee chose her replacement,<ref name="choi">Template:Cite web</ref> which took place on April 10.<ref name="examine">Template:Cite web</ref> Granger's last recorded vote was on July 24, 2024;<ref>Kay Granger: Votes and Legislation</ref> she was then absent from the Capitol<ref name=":n106">Template:Cite web</ref> until she returned to Washington in mid-November 2024 for a ceremony celebrating her work on the House Appropriations Committee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In December 2024, media reports confirmed that Granger had been residing in a senior living facility in Fort Worth since July 2024; her son said she had "dementia issues."<ref name="n105">Template:Cite web</ref> The incident sparked public backlash and renewed scrutiny of elderly politicians being allowed to serve in spite of advanced age and medical issues.<ref name=":n106"/><ref name=":n109">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":n110">Template:Cite web</ref>
Republican Craig Goldman was elected to represent Texas's 12th congressional district on November 5, 2024.
Political positions
The Washington Post described Granger as socially centrist, but fiscally conservative.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2013, the National Journal, a nonpartisan organization, gave Granger a composite political ideology score of 73% conservative and 27% liberal.<ref name="The Voter's Self Defense System">Template:Cite web</ref> According to FiveThirtyEight, as of February 2020, she voted with President Trump's position on legislative issues about 97% of the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By October 2021, she voted with President Biden's position on legislative issues about 11% of the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Abortion
Granger formerly supported abortion rights<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="votesmart.org">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Roe v. Wade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She reversed her position in 2020, asserting that she was anti-abortion, signing an amicus brief that asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Granger's abortion reversal was especially significant given the fact that her 1996 campaign had been promoted by The WISH List, a pro-abortion rights PAC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The WISH List had also supported her 2008 campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Granger had received mixed ratings from groups that support legal abortion.<ref name="votesmart.org" /> Prior to 2020, Granger had supported embryonic stem-cell research and voted against banning "chemically induced abortions."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2013, she supported banning abortion after 20 weeks,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but asserted that abortion was not her top issue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, she declined to cosponsor a bill to ban abortion after six weeks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Granger voted for several spending bills that included funding for Planned Parenthood, including some introduced in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, she also introduced legislation banning federal funding for abortion with exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, Granger signed a letter to President Trump urging him to "veto any appropriations bill that weakens current pro-life protections".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Other issues
Granger is known for her support for defense spending.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>
Granger voted several times in favor of an amendment to the United States Constitution to make it a crime to physically desecrate the American flag. She supported the Federal Marriage Amendment to define marriage as only permitted between a man and a woman, and also opposed letting same-sex couples adopt children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Granger was one of four Republicans in the House not to vote for or against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, though she previously voted against other repeal proposals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, she said she had "no comment" in response to Trump's decision to ban transgender troops from the military.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She did not vote for or against legislation opposing the ban of transgender troops.<ref name="ReferenceA" />
In June 2013, Granger was among the members of Congress to vote for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 to restrict the Pentagon from entering into new contracts with Russia's state arms broker, Rosoboronexport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During her tenure, Granger supported more than $50 million in earmarks to infrastructure projects in Fort Worth that benefited the Trinity River Vision Authority, an organization led by her son.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Granger voted for a resolution supporting Israel following the October 7 attacks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Presidential candidate endorsements
On September 25, 2007, Granger endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She became national co-chair of the campaign organization Women for Mitt, filling a vacancy left by the death of Jennifer Dunn.<ref name="autogenerated1">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2015, Granger opposed Donald Trump's 2016 presidential candidacy, saying, "He definitely should not be considered to speak for our nation as our president".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, however, she endorsed Trump and was endorsed by Trump.<ref name="auto2"/>
Committee assignments
Caucus memberships
- Anti-Terrorism Caucus (Co-Chair)
- United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Iraqi Women's Caucus (Co-Chair)
- Sportsmen's Caucus
- Congressional Arts Caucus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- U.S.–Japan Caucus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- House Baltic Caucus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Republican Study Committee<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Congressional Taiwan Caucus<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Writing
In 2006, Granger published What's Right About America, Celebrating Our Nation's Values, a book reflecting on lessons from prominent figures of U.S. history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Personal life
Granger has three children and five grandchildren. She is a member of the United Methodist Church.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
In December 2024, Granger was confirmed by The Dallas Morning News to have been residing in a senior living facility in Fort Worth since July 2024, concurrent with the final 6 months of her term. Her son said she had "dementia issues".<ref name="n105"/> The Dallas Express had gotten a tip about Granger's dementia in 2023 but could not confirm it for publication. Media in Washington, which no longer included many correspondents who specialized in regional representatives and issues, were criticized for not picking up on Granger's absence from Congress earlier.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Honors
- Kay Granger Elementary School, named in Granger's honor,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> opened in the Northwest Independent School District in August 2007.Template:Citation needed
- Kay Granger Park was named for Granger. It is a city park next to Mullendore Elementary School in North Richland Hills.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- In 1993, Granger's high school recognized her as a distinguished alumna.<ref name="granger">Kay Granger, USA Centers for Global Commercial & Investment Relations. Retrieved October 25, 2007. Template:Webarchive</ref>
Electoral history
See also
References
External links
- Congresswoman Kay Granger Template:Webarchive official U.S. House website
- Kay Granger for Congress Template:Webarchive
- Template:C-SPAN
- Template:CongLinks
- Profile at the Texas Tribune
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