Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) finally returned to Congress Tuesday after a nearly four-month disappearance from public life and revealed on the House floor why he vanished.
Kean had been hospitalized and treated for depression.
The Republican lawmaker had not cast a vote since March 5. He missed more than 140 votes in all while his staff gave little more than a vague “personal medical issue” as explanation. Colleagues said they didn’t know where he was.
House Speaker Mike Johnson admitted at one point he didn’t know any of the details. His chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, simply told The New York Times: “There’s no cameras where Tom is.”
On Tuesday, Kean explained why he had vanished.
“Several months ago, due to health concerns, I entered the hospital for some testing,” he said from the House floor. “I did not believe that this would result in a long-term stay. I was given the diagnosis of depression.”
“When people hear the word depression, many people think you simply feel sad,” Kean said. “But depression is so much more than that. It is physical. It is emotional. And until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.”
“When I first informed the public that I was dealing with a medical issue, I was still trying to understand what was happening myself,” he said. “When I said I hope to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it. There is no timeline for healing. There is no timeline for recovery, only the work of getting better one day at a time.”
He said he was thankful for the help he received, and challenged to the negative stigma around mental health treatment.
“I am grateful that I accepted help,” Kean said. “Because today I stand before you healthier, stronger and excited to return to the work that I love. Asking for help is not a weakness. It is a strength. If sharing my story encourages even one person to seek help, to give one family courage to have a difficult conversation, or remind one person that recovery is possible, then this moment will have been worthwhile.”
The months of silence had not gone over well inside the party.
A Republican strategist expressed frustration to The New York Post during the height of the mystery.
“It’s almost like a textbook example of what not to do in a crisis situation like this because eventually the truth will come out. It’s leading people to think the absolute worst, and the staff is tweeting like he’s actually there in Congress when he’s not.”
Kean’s absence created real complications for House Republicans, who have been pushing through priorities — border patrol funding, illegal immigration controls, funding legislation, Iran war resolutions — with a razor thin majority that left zero room for error.
The political stakes in Kean’s district are just as narrow.
President Donald Trump won New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District by a single point in 2024, and Democrats have had the seat in their crosshairs for months. Kean won the Republican primary unopposed on June 2 while still absent. He’ll face Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, in November. Johnson said Tuesday he expects Kean to “get re-elected easily this fall.”
Trump gave Kean his “Complete and Total Endorsement” earlier this month on Truth Social. Trump said he was a “Great Representative for the People of New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District” and a “Tremendous Advocate of our America First Agenda.”