{"id":639318,"date":"2026-05-12T21:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639318\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T21:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:47:10","slug":"republican-rep-tom-kean-jr-s-two-month-absence-continues-as-house-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639318\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr.\u2019s two-month absence continues as House returns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"anchor-6fb6a3\" class=\"body-graf\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/rep-tom-kean-jr-absence-congress-health-problem-rcna341916\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">who has not voted in the House since March 5<\/a>, will miss another week of work in Washington as the House returns Tuesday, his office told NBC News.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,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\" alt=\"NBC News Icon\" class=\"styles_icon__wRwWv\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB styles_textLarge__qlzwu\">Subscribe to read this story ad-free    <\/p>\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB\">Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/rockcms\/2026-01\/arrow-f55fa5.svg\" alt=\"arrow\" class=\"styles_arrow__tnruW\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b3587a\" class=\"body-graf\">Kean\u2019s office has said his two-month absence is related to a \u201cpersonal health matter\u201d but has not elaborated. The congressman has <a href=\"https:\/\/clerk.house.gov\/members\/K000398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">missed 68 votes<\/a> in the House, including on legislation to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/congress-expected-end-record-75-day-partial-government-shutdown-rcna342903\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">end the record 75-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8ca6ee\" class=\"body-graf\">Kean, 57, is also running for re-election in his Westfield-based seat, New Jersey\u2019s 7th Congressional District, which is a top target for Democrats in November. Kean does not have a Republican opponent in the state\u2019s June 2 primary, having earned <a href=\"https:\/\/newjerseyglobe.com\/congress\/in-a-first-trump-gives-tom-kean-jr-his-complete-and-total-endorsement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement<\/a>. Four Democrats are competing for the nomination to run against him in November, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/newjerseyglobe.com\/congress\/the-final-list-of-whos-running-for-congress-in-new-jersey-in-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New Jersey Globe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-617a09\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cCongressman Kean is still attending to a personal health matter and we appreciate the outpouring of support,\u201d Kean\u2019s chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, said in a statement that was first given to the New Jersey Globe. \u201cHe will be returning to a regular full schedule soon. The Congressman\u2019s team continues to serve the people of New Jersey uninterrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-fee5fa\" class=\"body-graf\">Scharfenberger previously said, in a late April statement, that the congressman was \u201caddressing a personal health matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-579e15\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">Kean was first elected to the House in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey, who has not voted in the House since&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-639318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}