Call it a mea culpa. A veteran Capitol Hill reporter on Monday said the Washington press corps was collectively “guilty” for missing the story of Texas Rep. Kay Granger’s lengthy absence from Congress.

Granger, 81, missed 279 of the House’s 517 votes in 2024, more than the 278 votes she missed between 1997 and 2006. Her last vote was July 24 on an amendment to reduce the salary of an Environmental Protection Agency official to $1. By contrast, Granger missed only 32 votes in 2023.

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, the retiring Fort Worth Republican who has been frequently absent from Congress for months, said in a statement Sunday she has been facing “health challenges.”