{"id":453,"date":"2026-06-30T16:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=453"},"modified":"2026-06-30T16:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:11:14","slug":"tom-kean-returns-to-dc-after-months-away-and-140-missed-votes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=453","title":{"rendered":"Tom Kean returns to DC after months away and 140 missed votes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. returned to the Capitol on Tuesday after an almost four-month-long absence, citing treatment for depression as the reason for his disappearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Kids bill faces uncertainty after House passage<\/a><\/p>\n

In a brief speech on the House floor, the New Jersey Republican described himself as a private person.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalking about myself has never come naturally, but I believe that I owe an explanation,\u201d he said, adding that the experience gave him a \u201cdeeper appreciation for the millions of Americans who face these challenges each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since last voting on March 5, Kean has been gone from Washington, pointing to an unspecified health issue. Even as he remained out of public view for months, he introduced multiple pieces of legislation, submitted speeches to the Congressional Record and won a primary election in which he ran unopposed, trying to keep up the appearance of business as usual.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During his absence, he missed more than 140 roll call votes on the House floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf sharing my story encourages even one person to seek help \u2026 then this moment will have been worthwhile,\u201d Kean said in his speech.<\/p>\n

As questions about his whereabouts grew louder this spring, Kean\u2019s team had offered just a handful of clues. A spokesperson told the New Jersey Globe in March that the congressman was addressing a \u201cpersonal health matter\u201d and would be back to a regular schedule \u201csoon,\u201d a promise Kean echoed in an April social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the need for transparency on this matter and I look forward to sharing my experience with the public,\u201d he added in another statement posted on June 2, the day of New Jersey\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n

Kean said Tuesday that he wasn\u2019t trying to move the goalposts but instead discovered that with depression, \u201cthere is no timeline for healing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I said I hoped to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it \u2014 those were the best estimates the doctors could provide,\u201d he said on the floor.<\/p>\n

The mystery had become a national news story, as reporters from The New York Times and other outlets knocked on doors of various properties connected to his family, trying to track him down.<\/p>\n

The drumbeat of headlines didn\u2019t stop him from earning an endorsement from Donald Trump, who urged primary voters to \u201cGET OUT AND VOTE FOR TOM \u2014\u00a0HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more At the Races: Rocky Mountain High Stakes<\/a><\/p>\n

Kean faces a tough matchup in the fall\u2019s general election, with his 7th District seat a prime target for Democrats. Challenger Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, has had the campaign trail to herself for almost a month and may even be a slight favorite, with Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rating the race Tilt Democratic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Limits of privacy<\/h2>\n

Kean is not the first politician to drop out of sight or evade questions about his health. After then-Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, missed a string of votes in 2024, for example, local reporters discovered she had quietly moved to an assisted living facility while still serving as a sitting member of Congress.<\/p>\n

The latest saga has created headaches for GOP leaders. \u201cIf it were me, I would have been more specific about that, and I encouraged him to be,\u201d Speaker Mike Johnson said of Kean\u2019s reasons at a news conference Tuesday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Johnson has largely defended Kean\u2019s reticence, saying in early June that \u201cpeople are entitled to get sick\u201d and \u201cwhat he\u2019s dealing with is something very common and not a big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s asked me not to disclose that, and I\u2019m going to honor that,\u201d Johson said at a June 3 news conference. \u201cThere is nothing untoward or scandalous at all in having a health issue, and as soon as he\u2019s ready to talk about that, you\u2019re all going to breathe a sigh of relief and say, \u2018That makes sense.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kean\u2019s return also brings relief for Johnson\u2019s ongoing math problem in the House, giving the tight Republican majority one more vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Absences \u2014 whether because of illness, campaigning or otherwise \u2014 have plagued the speaker throughout his tenure, as GOP hard-liners have used their leverage to shape their party\u2019s agenda and threaten key procedural votes on the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And voting remotely is no longer an option. Under a system established by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2020, members could vote by proxy if the pandemic kept them from showing up in person. But Republicans ended the practice when they regained control of the chamber in 2023, complaining it was widely abused.<\/p>\n

Kean is the scion of a prominent political family; his father was once New Jersey\u2019s governor, while his grandfather was also a congressman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Leadership test in House<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. returned to the Capitol on Tuesday after an almost four-month-long absence, citing treatment for depression as the reason for his disappearance.  In a brief speech on the House floor, the New Jersey Republican described himself as a private person. \u201cTalking about myself has never come naturally, but I believe that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"yoast_head":"\nTom Kean returns to DC after months away and 140 missed votes - American Industry Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=453\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Kean returns to DC after months away and 140 missed votes - American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. returned to the Capitol on Tuesday after an almost four-month-long absence, citing treatment for depression as the reason for his disappearance.  In a brief speech on the House floor, the New Jersey Republican described himself as a private person. \u201cTalking about myself has never come naturally, but I believe that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=453\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T16:11:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\"},\"headline\":\"Tom Kean returns to DC after months away and 140 missed votes\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T16:11:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453\"},\"wordCount\":805,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9e915605c0b1740ffcee2a31e9c521c1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Congress\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453\",\"name\":\"Tom Kean returns to DC after months away and 140 missed votes - American Industry Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9e915605c0b1740ffcee2a31e9c521c1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T16:11:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=453#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9e915605c0b1740ffcee2a31e9c521c1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9e915605c0b1740ffcee2a31e9c521c1.jpg\",\"width\":1620,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"UNITED STATES - JUNE 30: Rep. 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