Elon Musk Suggests Cognitive Testing for Elected Officials

Elon Musk, co-chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 5, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Entrepreneur Elon Musk suggested there should be cognitive tests for elected officials following news of a congresswoman spending six months in an assisted living facility.

“Maybe we should have some basic cognitive test for elected officials? This is getting crazy,” posted Musk on X, on Dec. 21.

Musk was responding to a report that Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) had been absent from Congress for six months as she was in a senior living center in Fort Worth, Texas, as she has been “having some dementia issues late in the year,” her son told The Dallas Morning News.

Granger, 81, returned to Washington last month after having last cast her vote on July 24.

“As many of my family, friends, and colleagues have known, I have been navigating some unforeseen health challenges over the past year,” said Granger in a statement from her office, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Granger, who has been in Congress since January 1997, announced last year she would not run for reelection after 14 terms.

“Serving my community has been the greatest honor, and I have always fought to improve the lives of my constituents,” she said in a statement at the time.

“As I announce my decision to not seek reelection, I am encouraged by the next generation of leaders in my district,” she said. “It’s time for the next generation to step up and take the mantle and be a strong and fierce representative for the people.”

Granger, who was the first Republican female elected to Congress from Texas, stepped down as chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee in April.

“When my colleagues made me the first Republican woman to Chair the Appropriations Committee, my goal was to pass conservative bills out of the Committee, get them to the floor, and get them signed into law,” she wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in March.

“Despite Republicans having a very slim majority, today marks the completion in the House of the second spending agreement this month that prioritizes our nation’s security and represents the first overall cut to non-defense, non-veterans spending, in almost a decade.”

Musk is not the only public figure to call for cognitive tests for elected officials.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, during her unsuccessful presidential campaign, called for mental competency tests for politicians age 75 and older.