Kay Granger

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. 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.

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.

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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Granger was first elected to Congress in 1996. She is a Republican. 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. Granger represented Texas's 12th congressional district from 1997 to 2025.

In 2020, Granger received the endorsement of President Donald Trump for her re-election campaign.

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.

Granger was a member of the House Appropriations Committee for 25 years. She served as the ranking member of the Committee. After the Republican Party gained a majority in the House of Representatives in the 2022 elections, she was named chair of the Committee in January 2023. Granger is the first woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee. Granger stepped down from the Appropriations Committee chairship in April 2024.

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.

Retirement

On October 30, 2023, Granger confirmed that she would not run for re-election in 2024. 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, which took place on April 10. Granger's last recorded vote was on July 24, 2024; she was then absent from the Capitol until she returned to Washington in mid-November 2024 for a ceremony celebrating her work on the House Appropriations Committee.

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."} The incident sparked public backlash and renewed scrutiny of elderly politicians being allowed to serve in spite of advanced age and medical issues.

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. In 2013, the ''National Journal'', a nonpartisan organization, gave Granger a composite political ideology score of 73% conservative and 27% liberal. According to ''FiveThirtyEight'', as of February 2020, she voted with President Trump's position on legislative issues about 97% of the time. By October 2021, she voted with President Biden's position on legislative issues about 11% of the time.

Abortion

Granger formerly supported abortion rights and ''Roe v. Wade''. She reversed her position in 2020, asserting that she was anti-abortion, signing an amicus brief that asked the Supreme Court to overturn ''Roe''.

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. The WISH List had also supported her 2008 campaign. Granger had received mixed ratings from groups that support legal abortion. Prior to 2020, Granger had supported embryonic stem-cell research and voted against banning "chemically induced abortions." As of 2013, she supported banning abortion after 20 weeks, but asserted that abortion was not her top issue. In 2017, she declined to cosponsor a bill to ban abortion after six weeks. Granger voted for several spending bills that included funding for Planned Parenthood, including some introduced in 2018. 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. In 2019, Granger signed a letter to President Trump urging him to "veto any appropriations bill that weakens current pro-life protections".

Other issues

Granger is known for her support for defense spending.

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. 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. In 2017, she said she had "no comment" in response to Trump's decision to ban transgender troops from the military. She did not vote for or against legislation opposing the ban of transgender troops.

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.

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.

Granger voted for a resolution supporting Israel following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Presidential candidate endorsements

On September 25, 2007, Granger endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary. She became national co-chair of the campaign organization Women for Mitt, filling a vacancy left by the death of Jennifer Dunn.

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". In 2020, however, she endorsed Trump and was endorsed by Trump.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Appropriations

Caucus memberships

* Anti-Terrorism Caucus (Co-Chair)
* United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
* Iraqi Women's Caucus (Co-Chair)
* Sportsmen's Caucus
* Congressional Arts Caucus
* U.S.–Japan Caucus
* House Baltic Caucus
* Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus
* Republican Study Committee
* Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans

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.

Personal life

Granger has three children and five grandchildren. She is a member of the United Methodist Church.

In December 2024, Granger was confirmed 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".

Honors

* Kay Granger Elementary School, named in Granger's honor, opened in the Northwest Independent School District in August 2007.
* Kay Granger Park was named for Granger. It is a city park next to Mullendore Elementary School in North Richland Hills.
* In 1993, Granger's high school recognized her as a distinguished alumna.Kay Granger
USA Centers for Global Commercial & Investment Relations. Retrieved October 25, 2007.

Electoral history

See also

* Women in the United States House of Representatives

References

External links

Congresswoman Kay Granger
official U.S. House website

Kay Granger for Congress

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Profile
at the ''Texas Tribune''

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, Kay
1943 births
21st-century American women politicians
20th-century mayors of places in Texas
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives
American Methodists
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
International Republican Institute
Living people
Mayors of Fort Worth, Texas
Methodists from Texas
People from Greenville, Texas
People with dementia
Protestants from Texas
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
Women mayors of places in Texas