WASHINGTON — Colleagues of Tom Kean Jr., a Republican two-term New Jersey member of the House, say they are worried about his personal health and have not heard from him despite calls and text messages sent during his extended absence from Capitol Hill.
At the Capitol Wednesday, Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) and Chris Smith (R-4th) said they both have tried to contact Kean but haven’t heard anything back.
“We’ve both reached out. Don’t know,” Smith said.
“Complete radio silence,” said Van Drew, who overlapped with Kean when both served in the state Legislature.
“Nobody’s covering up. We just haven’t heard a word,” Van Drew said. “We talk about it,” he said, gesturing to Smith. “We’re worried about him.”
Kean, 57, has not voted on the House floor since March 5, though Congress was in recess for two weeks in April.
Reps. Donald Norcross (D-1st), Josh Gottheimer (D-5th), Rob Menendez (D-8th) and LaMonica McIver (D-12th) each told NJ Spotlight News they didn’t know where Kean has been.
“Congressman is addressing a personal health matter. He will be returning to a full regular schedule,” Dan Scharfenberger, Kean’s chief of staff, said in an emailed statement last week. He did not respond to an emailed request for comment Wednesday.
In a statement to NJ Spotlight News late Thursday, Speaker Mike Johnson said he talked to Kean hours that day.
“I was happy to speak to Tom Kean, Jr. this afternoon by phone,” Johnson said. “He is attending to a personal health matter and expects to be back to 100% very soon. Tom is one of the most dedicated and hardest working members of Congress, and I am grateful for all he does and will continue to do to serve New Jerseyans and our country.
Representatives for Tom Emmer, the majority whip, whose job is to track attendance and shepherd bills into passage, did not respond to a request for comment about Kean’s absence. Neither did representatives for the Democratic whip, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts.
Van Drew said it’s unlikely party leaders know more. “Honestly the way this place is, if leadership knew somebody would probably leak it out unintentionally.”
Kean was not at a reception in the Capitol on Tuesday evening for Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, who was in Washington for a union event.
“I’m worried,” said Menendez, who, with Kean, sits on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. “They’re keeping this really tight-lipped. Members have reached out and haven’t heard back.”
Depending on who is present and voting, Republicans cannot afford to lose more than a vote or two in the House, and still pass a given bill. Kean’s absence could complicate passage of a bill GOP lawmakers are assembling to fund immigration enforcement.
The two agencies that have spearheaded the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — could receive tens of billions of dollars under that bill.
Thirteen ex-House members vacated their seats during this Congress, the 119th. After Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-11th) on Monday was sworn in to serve the remaining stretch of Sherrill’s term, the House convulsed with two departures. On Tuesday, Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida — facing an expulsion vote for misusing FEMA funds — resigned. Then Wednesday, David Scott, a Democrat from Georgia on the Agriculture Committee, died. He was 80.
During Kean’s absence, he has signed on as a co-sponsor to various bills and his office has released letters and statements about the congressman’s work in the district. That includes a statement, dated April 14, announcing an essay contest for students in grades 3 through 6 about America’s 250th anniversary.
Since March, Kean’s official congressional social media accounts have published more posts that use graphics or posts promoting public information and fewer posts that feature current pictures of him with constituents or of him during public appearances.
Constituents have left comments on Kean’s official social media accounts, asking for in-person town halls and information about Kean’s whereabouts.
An Instagram account created in March, when the congressman began missing votes, has been reusing images previously posted on Kean’s official government account.
On Monday, this new account posted what appeared to be an image of Kean swearing in local politicians in Bedminster Township.
“It was a privilege to attend Bedminster Township’s 2026 Reorganization Meeting to swear in Mayor Larry Jacobs and Committee members Gina Lisa-Fernandez and William Rosen,” the caption read. “I look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the Township as we serve the families of Bedminster and strengthen the community.”
The image and caption are identical to a post from Kean’s official account in January when the Bedminster event occurred.
Another post from earlier this week, shows Kean meeting with members of a nonprofit organization. That same post was shared back in February by Kean’s official congressional account.
NJ Spotlight News could not verify who created the new account or why it is posting these pictures with the same captions used on Kean’s official account.
In February, the U.S. government purchased a warehouse in Roxbury Township, within Morris County, for about $129 million, more than double its assessed cost. The government purchased the warehouse from investment bank Goldman Sachs and Dalfen Industrial, a real estate firm.
Republican officials in Roxbury Township, Morris County, criticized Kean over the warehouse, saying he “did not engage to the level we had hoped to provide the advocacy our residents deserved.”
In a statement at the time, Kean’s office said the congressman would “not stop fighting for a workable solution” on the warehouse. The warehouse is in his district.
The son of former governor Tom Kean, Kean is running for reelection and will be on the ballot for the Republican primary election in June.
In November, the Cook Political Report, a non-partisan political analysis group, said the race for reelection had shifted against Kean, moving his race to its “toss-up” category.
Sherrill narrowly carried the seat, New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, in her November election.
Kean’s campaign remains active. As of the first quarter of the year, the campaign had about $3.35 million in cash on hand after spending roughly $1.10 million in the period, according to Federal Election Commission records.
No Democratic challenger trying to take Kean’s seat had more than $1.4 million in cash available, FEC files show.
Health scares and deaths of sitting lawmakers are fresh in the minds of the New Jersey delegation to Congress.
Last year, Norcross nearly died from a severe bout of sepsis, later rushing back to Washington to vote against final passage of a sweeping bill, now law, that cut hundreds of billions of dollars from national food and health programs.
A year before that, Democratic congressmen Bill Pascrell and Donald Payne Jr. both died in office.
And in 2018, surgeons operated on Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12th), to remove a cancerous tumor. Watson Coleman, 81, is not running for re-election.
“Obviously I pray that everything is okay and that he is taking care of himself and getting better,” McIver said Tuesday. “But at the end of the day, when he is physically here, it’s like he’s not here because he does not stand up for the people of New Jersey.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated after initial publication to include comments from Speaker Mike Johnson.
