Tom Kean Jr., the New Jersey congressman who has missed more than three months of votes and other business in the Capitol, will return to Washington, D.C., on June 30, his spokesman said.
“He’ll be returning to a full schedule,” Kean spokesman Harrison Neely said by telephone on Thursday.
Kean also is running for reelection in one of the nation’s most closely watched races, on Nov. 3, as Republicans seek to maintain control of both houses.
His Democratic opponent, Rebecca Bennett, in part is targeting Kean’s fealty to President Donald Trump. Just 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, while 59% say they disapprove, according to an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released on Thursday. Those are record-breaking poor marks for both Trump terms.
Kean, a 57-year-old Republican who is crucial to his party’s hold on the House of Representatives, last voted on March 5, then vanished without public word of his whereabouts. Fellow members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, told NJ Spotlight News that he wasn’t returning texts or phone calls, and they had no idea where he was, or why.
His staff said he was under treatment for an undisclosed medical condition. On April 27, Kean broke his silence on the social media site X.com
“I want to thank my constituents and colleagues for their patience as I address a personal medical issue,” Kean wrote. “My doctors continue to assure me that my recovery will be complete and that I will be back on the job I love very soon. I appreciate your support and look forward to being back in the near future.”
Neely declined to say why Kean chose June 30 for his return, and he would not discuss his ailment.
“When he’s back in person you can expect to hear from him with full transparency on his medical condition,” Neely said.
Kean’s chief of staff, Daniel Scharfenberger, and congressional spokeswoman Noelle Berriet did not respond to emailed questions Thursday.
In the more than three months since Kean last voted, he has missed 135 roll-call votes in the chamber and others in his two committees, Energy and Commerce and Foreign Affairs.
The House is scheduled for a brief four-day session from June 29-July 2 before recessing for the Independence Day holiday and returning, along with the Senate, on July 13.
Myriad topics await Kean upon his return to Washington, including political fallout from Trump’s negotiated peace talks with Iran, approval of a spy-powers law, bipartisan housing legislation and the immense agriculture policy legislation often called the “farm bill.”
Kean’s absence also allowed him to avoid voting on a $70 billion funding bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement — money now in ICE’s hands, set aside to hire more immigration agents.
While he has been gone, Kean and his staff have tried to project an active image to the public, recycling old photos online, sending out taxpayer-funded communications and submitting speeches into the Congressional Record, the diary of Congress.
These are not speeches he actually gave. Rather, they are remarks that lawmakers use to honor events and people in their home states.
Last week, Kean submitted another speech into the Congressional Record. This pseudo speech, dated June 10, was to honor Gottesman RTW Academy, a Jewish school in his district.
“Its commitment to individualized learning, critical thinking, and community leadership has made it a central institution within New Jersey’s Jewish educational landscape,” Kean’s remarks read.
