On Capitol Hill, occasional absences are common. Members sometimes have personal emergencies or travel hindrances, for example, that temporarily keep them from their duties, while others sometimes miss floor votes to tend to local concerns in their home districts.
But prolonged absences are more unusual, and they invariably generate different kinds of questions when they happen. NBC News reported:
Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey, who has not voted in the House since March 5, will miss another week of work in Washington as the House returns Tuesday, his office told NBC News.
Kean’s office has said his two-month absence is related to a “personal health matter” but has not elaborated. The congressman has missed 68 votes in the House, including on legislation to end the record 75-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
For those unfamiliar with the congressman, Kean has long been seen as a key figure in New Jersey Republican politics, in part because of his former leadership role in the state legislature and in part because of the familiarity of his surname: Kean’s grandfather was a longtime GOP congressman from the Garden State, and his father was a popular two-term governor.
But since arriving in Congress more than three years ago, he hasn’t done much. In fact, the most notable part of his congressional career to date is the fact it’s been 10 weeks (and counting) since Kean cast a vote on the House floor.
In early April, there were reports that some of his colleagues had reached out to Kean to check to see how he was doing, but their calls went unanswered. In late April, his office issued a written statement to assure the public that the congressman would return to a full schedule “very soon,” which led many to wonder whether he might be on the Hill this week.
Evidently, however, Kean is still out, addressing a “personal medical issue” that has not been disclosed.
Complicating matters, Kean represents one of the nation’s most competitive congressional districts, and though he hasn’t made a public appearance since early March, a member of the incumbent’s political operation told Politico last week, “Of course Congressman Kean is running for re-election.”
In the meantime, however, the New Jersey Republican hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about the details necessitating his absence. House Speaker Mike Johnson, for example, was asked on Tuesday when he expected Kean to return to work. As NBC News’ report noted, the Louisiana Republican replied, “I don’t know.”
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