U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Columbus Democrat who missed a key vote last month on funding for public media because of an undisclosed medical procedure, is back in Washington with an eye covering and reportedly using a wheelchair.
Beatty stood on the U.S. Capitol steps with other Democrats on July 2 in a show of party solidarity against the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the domestic budget package that Republican President Donald Trump is championing that would make permanent tax cuts, slash Medicaid, and add more than $3 trillion to the national debt over a decade.
Photos from the event show Beatty, 75, with a covering over her left eye. Axios reported that Beatty was also using a wheelchair after a recent medical procedure.
The Dispatch reached out in a phone call to Beatty’s office on July 2 to confirm details about her health, including the wheelchair report and the new eye covering seen in the photo. Her spokesperson, Christine Thompson, said she would have to check with Beatty’s team before responding.
In a text later, Thompson said, “The congresswoman is feeling good.” She did not address the eye covering or the wheelchair report.
Beatty’s office previously said Beatty had a medical procedure, but did not disclose details. The procedure was her staff’s stated reason why she missed a contentious June 11 vote on funding for NPR and PBS and for foreign aid. The bill passed narrowly, 214-212, with Democrats coming up short in opposition by four absences, including Beatty.
The news service Axios reported that Beatty underwent eye surgery the day before, which she scheduled because she thought there wouldn’t be any votes.
Beatty, a former state lawmaker, has represented Columbus in Congress since 2013.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Jonathan Jackson, a Democrat from Illinois, showed up in an arm sling, according to wire photos. Jackson told Axios that he had rotator cuff surgery.
Beatty has blasted the Trump and Republican “Big Beautiful Bill” repeatedly on social media. On June 27, she said on X that the bill “rips health care from 16 million, slashes food aid, strips people of their legal right to a fair hearing—and still adds to the national debt.”
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
