{"id":3009,"date":"2026-06-30T12:34:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3009"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:34:35","slug":"republican-tom-kean-jr-set-to-return-to-congress-after-long-unexplained-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3009","title":{"rendered":"Republican Tom Kean Jr. set to return to Congress after long unexplained absence"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>TRENTON, N.J. <\/strong> | Tom Kean Jr., the New Jersey Republican who\u2019s been away from Congress for almost four months, is expected to re-emerge in public after months of speculation about the unspecified medical condition he says has kept him away from Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Kean, 57, a second-term lawmaker and scion of a New Jersey political family, represents a battleground district that includes President Donald Trump\u2019s Bedminster golf club. He\u2019s missed more than 100 votes in Congress this year and hasn\u2019t been seen publicly in Washington or his district despite winning the Republican nomination to serve another term.<\/p>\n<p>Kean\u2019s spokesman promised the congressman would return to work Tuesday and be transparent about what has kept him away. Last week, Kean answered the door of his home when a New York Times reporter visited, but declined to be interviewed, saying only that he would speak to them later.<\/p>\n<p>The mystery over Kean\u2019s absence carries potential political implications, given the competitive district he represents and the Republican Party\u2019s narrow control of the House. His office has said he is still running for reelection and is set to face Democratic nominee Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, in New Jersey\u2019s most high-profile contest in November.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Democrats have targeted the district as a prime pick-up opportunity, given that the seat has changed hands in the last two midterm elections. Kean won in 2022 by defeating Democrat Tom Malinowski, who had defeated Republican Leonard Lance in 2018.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kean\u2019s last vote was months ago<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kean last voted in the House on March 5, but his absence wasn\u2019t explained.<\/p>\n<p>In April, his social media account said he had been dealing with a personal medical issue and his doctors expected him to recover.<\/p>\n<p>Kean\u2019s absence has also complicated matters for House Republican leaders, who are struggling every day to pass bills with their razor-thin majority, 218-212. Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders repeatedly told reporters they were in touch with Kean, but said he would have to address the circumstances himself.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has endorsed Kean\u2019s reelection, without mentioning his absence.<\/p>\n<p>Kean comes from a long line of public servants, stretching 250 years to the country\u2019s founding when one of his ancestors became New Jersey\u2019s first leader since independence.<\/p>\n<p>His great-grandfather was a senator, his grandfather was a congressman and his father is the former two-term governor, Tom Kean Sr.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3003\">Aurora teacher of the year semi-finalist inspires students to learn, win and pass it on<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3005\">Iran says this. The US says that. A look at the trickiest issues in the unresolved conflict<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3007\">Trump\u2019s fixation on voting has had mixed results. He still has ways to affect November\u2019s elections<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TRENTON, N.J. | Tom Kean Jr., the New Jersey Republican who\u2019s been away from Congress for almost four months, is expected to re-emerge in public after months of speculation about the unspecified medical condition he says has kept him away from Washington. Kean, 57, a second-term lawmaker and scion of a New Jersey political family, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[45,4849,3885,3436,4850],"class_list":["post-3009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation","tag-donald-trump","tag-house-foreign-affairs-subcommittee","tag-republican-party","tag-speaker-mike-johnson","tag-tom-kean-jr"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Republican Tom Kean Jr. set to return to Congress after long unexplained absence - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3009\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republican Tom Kean Jr. set to return to Congress after long unexplained absence - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TRENTON, N.J. | Tom Kean Jr., the New Jersey Republican who\u2019s been away from Congress for almost four months, is expected to re-emerge in public after months of speculation about the unspecified medical condition he says has kept him away from Washington. 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