Rep. Tom Kean Jr. has returned to his northern New Jersey home as he prepares to come back to Congress next week after an unexplained absence lasting nearly four months.
Kean (R-NJ) greeted a New York Times reporter at his home in Westfield Wednesday evening, but declined to speak on his time away, saying: “It’s good to see you. I’ll talk to you next week. Thank you.”
The 57-year-old’s top adviser, Harrison Neely, added in a text message to the Times that Kean “will be fully transparent” when he returns to Washington on June 30.
Kean, the son of former Garden State Gov. Tom Kean Sr., last cast a House vote on March 5 and has missed 139 roll calls since. His team has declined to explain his absence beyond calling it a “personal health matter” and claiming the congressman is “focused on his recovery.”
Earlier this month, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) confirmed to reporters on Capitol Hill that “I do know what his health issue is, but he’s asked me not to disclose that, and I’m going to honor that.”
“It’s not a scandalous thing at all,” Johnson added June 3. “People deal with health issues. Maybe that’s a newsflash for you, but even members of Congress get sick as well.”
Reports that Kean had left Westfield, about 20 miles from Manhattan, raised speculation about the nature of his illness, while some constituents complained that their phone calls and emails had gone unanswered.
Kean’s chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, could only muster a cryptic explanation, telling the Times May 12: “There’s no cameras where Tom is.”
During his absense, Kean won the Republican nomination for a third House term repping New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District after running in the primary unopposed. He will face Democrat Rebecca Bennett in a race seen by many as a toss-up.
“I certainly wish him well, and I hope he has a speedy recovery. I do think looking at his record, he has absolutely failed this district,” Bennett told NBC News May 21.
“If I was our member of Congress,” she added, “I would certainly be more transparent about what’s going on.”
