WASHINGTON — 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.
Kean, 57, is also running for re-election in his Westfield-based seat, New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, which is a top target for Democrats in November. Kean does not have a Republican opponent in the state’s June 2 primary, having earned President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Four Democrats are competing for the nomination to run against him in November, according to the New Jersey Globe.
“Congressman Kean is still attending to a personal health matter and we appreciate the outpouring of support,” Kean’s chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, said in a statement that was first given to the New Jersey Globe. “He will be returning to a regular full schedule soon. The Congressman’s team continues to serve the people of New Jersey uninterrupted.”
Scharfenberger previously said, in a late April statement, that the congressman was “addressing a personal health matter.”
Asked Tuesday when he expects Kean to return to Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said: “I don’t know.”
Kean was first elected to the House in 2022.
