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Tom Kean Jr. Returns to House and Says Hospitalization Was for Depression

Ending months of secrecy, the disclosure raises questions about how his long absence and missed votes affected representation in a narrowly divided House.

FILE - Rep. Tom Kean, R-N.J., listens during a Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs about Belarus on Capitol Hill, Dec. 5, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)
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US Rep. Tom Kean, a Republican from New Jersey, who is returning from an unexplained months-long absence, arrives for an expected floor speech at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 30.
Thomas Kean Jr. during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 22, 2024.

Overview

  • Kean returned to the House on Tuesday and told colleagues he had been hospitalized for testing, was diagnosed with depression, and remained under doctors' care for an extended treatment that kept him away from Washington.
  • His absence lasted nearly four months and led him to miss more than 100 roll-call votes, a gap that complicated Republican leaders' ability to pass party-line measures in a chamber with a thin working majority.
  • Kean ran unopposed in the early June primary and remains the GOP nominee for New Jersey's competitive 7th District even as Democrats, through the DCCC, treat the seat as a top pickup opportunity.
  • He declined to offer further medical details or take reporters' questions after his floor remarks, and Speaker Mike Johnson said he had encouraged Kean to be more forthcoming about his condition.
  • The episode highlights tensions between medical privacy and public transparency for elected officials, could shape voter views in the fall race, and joins recent precedent of lawmakers taking mental-health leave while prompting debate over disclosure rules.