Kean says he will return soon after weeks of unexplained absence

Tom Kean Jr.'s weeks away from the House have become a test of what a district loses when its representative disappears from public view. The two-term Republican from New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District last voted on March 5, and by May 21 he had missed 100 consecutive votes while his office and allies offered only broad references to a "personal medical issue" or "personal health matter."

The silence has extended beyond the House floor. Kean, who has been out of public view since early March, had missed 50 roll call votes by April 27, even though Congress was in recess for two weeks that month. On April 27, he wrote on X that he expected to return to the Capitol "very soon," said his doctors expected a full recovery, and promised he would be back to a full schedule and "100 percent." By May 21, he was telling reporters and county GOP leaders that he planned to return to voting and campaigning in the next couple of weeks and would discuss his health publicly later.

The vague explanations have left other Republicans trying to fill the vacuum. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had spoken with Kean by phone and described him as dealing with an unspecified health matter. Rep. Richard Hudson said Kean would be back voting in June. Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith said they had tried to reach him earlier in the absence but had not heard back, a sign of how little information has been available even inside the party.

For voters in a district rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report, the cost has been concrete. Kean was absent as House Republicans worked under a razor-thin majority, where a single vote can matter on must-pass legislation such as DHS funding, FISA extensions and the farm bill. His district also headed toward the June 2 New Jersey primary without its member fully in public view, turning a personal health matter into a campaign issue and a question of basic representation.

The episode has sharpened scrutiny of how little the public is told when an elected official vanishes for weeks. Kean has said he will eventually explain his absence, but for now constituents are left with missed votes, unanswered calls and the uncertainty of not knowing when their representative will fully return to the job.