Thomas Kean Jr. on a bipartisan trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2024.
Photo: Serhiy Morgunov/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
For months, a Republican congressman has been absent from Capitol Hill due to an undisclosed medical issue. There is no clear return date in sight, and a series of new reports has prompted only more questions about the lawmaker’s condition.
Representative Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey, 57, last cast a vote in the House on March 5. Kean, who is running for reelection to a third term, issued a statement on social media on April 27 confirming he was dealing with a medical issue and would return to work at an unspecified future time.
“I want to thank my constituents and colleagues for their patience as I address a personal medical issue,” he wrote. “My doctors continue to assure me that my recovery will be complete and that I will be back to the job I love very soon. I expect to return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent.”
But the congressman has yet to return to Washington, D.C., and new comments from those in his inner circle have added to the mystery. In an interview with CNN published Friday, Kean’s father, Tom Kean Sr., the former New Jersey governor, issued assurances that his son will be back to work soon and that he is currently receiving medical care and has been seen by several doctors.
“He’s hopefully coming back soon and he’s under the care of a doctor,” the elder Kean told the outlet. “They all agree he’s going to be fine. He’s under a doctor’s care.”
Kean’s father told CNN he wouldn’t go into detail about his son’s illness but indicated this was only a temporary setback. “It took a real illness to knock him out,” Kean Sr. said. “This won’t linger. It’s not some kind of disease that’s going to incapacitate him in the future. The consensus is that he will be 100 percent okay.”
The elder Kean’s comments came after the New York Times caught up with the congressman’s chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, who was notably in attendance at the Democratic primary debate for Kean’s district. (Kean is running unopposed in the Republican primary.) Speaking to the Times, Scharfenberger did not provide any new details on Kean’s medical treatments. “He’s dealing with a personal health condition, and he’ll be back soon,” he said.
As the Times pressed for additional information on Kean’s recent lack of visibility in both Washington and his home district in New Jersey, Scharfenberger said cryptically, “There’s no cameras where Tom is.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he last spoke to Kean two weeks ago and that they had a “short, very positive conversation.”
“He sounded great. He said he was out on a medical issue and he would be back as soon as possible. That’s the full extent of what I know about it. It’s a personal thing, and obviously, I told him that we’re praying for him and we need him to get back as soon as he can,” he said.
While Kean has been on the mend, his social-media presence has continued unabated with his official accounts issuing commemorations for Mother’s Day and National Police Week as well as touting his support for the Sikh American Anti-Discrimination Act as a co-sponsor. One Wednesday post stated Kean was “pleased” to join the newly formed Congressional Crypto Caucus.
“The United States must lead on digital assets — driving innovation, delivering regulatory clarity, and protecting consumers. I look forward to working with this bipartisan group of colleagues to advance that agenda,” the post read.
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