Washington — Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey disclosed Tuesday that he was diagnosed with depression resulting in a long stay in the hospital, which has kept him out of public view for months.
“I’m grateful that I accepted help,” Kean said in a floor speech. “Asking for help is not a weakness. It is as strength.”
Kean, who is running for a third term in a competitive district, last voted on March 5 and has missed more than 140 votes as House GOP leaders try to advance their legislative priorities with little room to spare.
Ahead of Kean’s floor speech, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he would have been more forthcoming about his condition.
“If it were me, I would have been more specific about that, and I encouraged him to be,” the Louisiana Republican said.
Still, Johnson defended Kean and said the New Jersey Republican’s staff has “worked overtime” and has been in “constant contact” with his office.
“I think his constituents have been served throughout this process,” Johnson said. “I think Tom gets reelected easily this fall.”
Kean’s monthslong absence
After his extended absence became apparent, Johnson said he had spoken with Kean by phone on April 24 and that he was “attending to a personal health matter and expects to be back to 100% very soon.” Johnson told reporters weeks later that Kean “sounded good and optimistic” in the April call. The Louisiana Republican added, “I don’t even know the details” about his condition.
Kean’s first public statement on his absence came in late April, when the congressman said he was addressing a “personal medical issue.”
“My doctors continue to assure me that my recovery will be complete and that I will be back to the job I love very soon,” the April 27 statement said. “I expect to return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent.”
He gave no details about the issue and comments weeks later from his staff and family members only deepened the mystery around his absence.
“There’s no cameras where Tom is,” his chief of staff told the New York Times, declining to elaborate.
Kean’s father, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean Sr., told NJ.com on May 15 that his son’s illness was “serious” but temporary and that he was under the care of a doctor away from home. He added, “he’ll be out in two or three weeks.”
“It took a real illness to knock him out,” the elder Kean told CNN in another interview on May 15. “This won’t linger. It’s not some kind of disease that’s going to incapacitate him in the future. The consensus is that he will be 100% OK.”
Still, Kean’s social media accounts continued to post in the first person. He also introduced legislation and digitally signed congressional disclosure documents about his stock trades. The electronic signatures were dated March 18, April 13 and May 22.
In a May 21 phone interview with the New Jersey Globe, Kean said his doctors “are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery” and that he understood “the need for public transparency.”
He issued another statement via his campaign on June 2, the day of his primary in which he ran unopposed.
“Right now I am focused on my recovery and under the advice of healthcare professionals, I will transition from virtual work to in person work within a matter of weeks. At that time I will be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition,” Kean said.
When asked how it was acceptable for a member of Congress to be absent for months without giving further explanation, Johnson said “it’s not a scandalous thing at all.”
“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 said at a news conference on June 3. “What he’s dealing with is not very common and not a big thing.”
“When he explains it, it will all make sense,” he said.
A week before his return to the Capitol, Kean answered the door at his New Jersey home, wearing a suit and tie, when a New York Times reporter knocked. He declined to give details about his absence.
