New Jersey congressman last voted on March 5

Tom Kean Jr. has not cast a House vote since March 5, and the New Jersey Republican says he will return to Washington within weeks after a stretch that has already spanned more than 100 missed roll calls. His absence has turned into a test of how much a single member can matter in a closely divided Congress.

Kean’s office first pointed to a personal health matter in late April, then said this week that he planned to move from virtual work back to in-person work within a matter of weeks. NBC reported that by May 12 he had already missed 68 House votes, including legislation to end a 75-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, while GovTrack later recorded 104 missed roll call votes from March 17 through May 21. That is not just a streak of empty seats on the floor, but a full missing record across a critical stretch of the session.

The practical cost shows up in the numbers. NBC’s live primary tracker listed Republicans with 218 House seats, Democrats with 212 and five vacancies, a margin that leaves leadership little room for error on party-line votes and procedural fights. In that kind of chamber, one absent member is not symbolic. It reduces the buffer for passing bills, managing amendments and holding the conference together when every vote is counted.

Kean represents New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, one of the party’s most watched battlegrounds heading into November. Rebecca Bennett won the Democratic primary on Tuesday, while Kean was unopposed on the Republican side and carried President Donald Trump’s endorsement. The district has already spent months without an active floor vote from its representative, even as it remains central to the fight for control of the House.

The absence also reaches beyond roll calls. GovTrack lists Kean on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, assignments that touch health policy, technology, communications and overseas affairs. For constituents, that means a district already waiting for answers has also gone without a member present for the work that shapes legislation before it ever reaches the floor.