WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson teased that he knows what is going on with mysteriously missing Rep. Tom Kean Jr., but will leave it to the congressman to divulge it.
“I do know what his health issue is, but he’s asked me not to disclose that, and I’m going to honor that,” Johnson (R-La.) told reporters.
Kean has been missing from Congress since March 5, when he participated in his last roll call vote. Since then, he has claimed a health issue kept him away, but hasn’t specified what condition or when he’ll be back other than within a couple of “weeks.”
“He’s in good spirits,” the speaker explained. “It’s not a scandalous thing at all. People deal with health issues. Maybe that’s a newsflash for you, but even members of Congress get sick as well.”
“Tom Kean is an extraordinary member of Congress,” Johnson stressed. “He is anxious to come back in person and be here every single day.”
The New Jersey Republican was unopposed in his primary Tuesday for what is one of the most competitive House seats in the country.
Ahead of his victory, Kean revealed that he has been working remotely and vowed to be transparent with the public when he makes his full return to the House.
During his absence, he has missed over 100 roll call votes, but his office has kept up its constituency work and even introduced legislation.
Kean recently did an interview with the New Jersey Globe, where he declined to elaborate on the record about what specifically was going on with him, and has also made calls to his House colleagues.
Close confidants have also given mixed details about his whereabouts.
“There’s no cameras where Tom is,” his chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, told The New York Times last month.
His father, Tom Kean Sr., the former governor of New Jersey, predicted to NJ.com his son would be back on Capitol Hill in about “two or three weeks.”
“Any time you’ve been through a serious illness, you can’t be 100% the day you get back.”
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