Tom Kean Jr.'s three-month absence raises questions in New Jersey, Washington

Tom Kean Jr.’s disappearance from public view has become more than a personal matter. The New Jersey Republican has not voted in the House since March 5, has missed 88 of 88 roll call votes since March 17, and has stayed out of sight for nearly three months while his office offers only that he is dealing with a “personal medical issue” or “personal health matter.”

That silence carries real consequences in Washington. House Republicans are governing with a razor-thin majority, and Kean has been absent for votes on Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding and on a measure to rein in President Donald Trump’s war powers on Iran. Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not know the reason for Kean’s absence or when he would return, underscoring how little House leaders have been told about one of their own members’ health and schedule.

In New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, the stakes are just as immediate. The seat is one of the most competitive in the country, and Kean, 57, won it in 2024 by 51.77 percent to Democrat Sue Altman’s 46.37 percent. Cook Political Report moved the district from Lean Republican to Toss Up in November 2025, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has put NJ-07 on its list of Districts in Play for 2026. The Republican primary is set for June 2, with the general election on Nov. 3, giving Kean little time to rebuild a public presence if he intends to seek another term.

Kean has now said publicly that doctors expect a complete recovery and that he expects to return to Congress and the campaign trail “very soon” and “in the next couple of weeks.” Even so, political reporters have said he has been calling Republican county chairs in the district and speaking to party leaders by phone while remaining out of public view. Fellow New Jersey Republicans, including Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith, have said they tried to reach him without success.

That gap between private explanation and public absence has turned into a test of how much voters are owed when an elected official disappears from the job for months. Constituents in Westfield and across the district are left to weigh a familiar political question with unusual urgency: how much privacy can a sitting member claim when missed votes may help decide control of the House?