{"id":2548,"date":"2026-07-01T09:04:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2548"},"modified":"2026-07-01T09:04:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:04:46","slug":"republican-tom-kean-jr-says-depression-led-to-long-absence-from-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2548","title":{"rendered":"Republican Tom Kean Jr. says depression led to long absence from Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. disclosed Tuesday that he was being treated for depression during his unexplained four-month absence from the House, suggesting in a brief floor speech that he remained silent about his condition until now because he is a \u201cprivate person by nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2546\">Supreme Court strikes down Trump\u2019s bid to limit birthright citizenship<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Depression, Kean said, \u201cis physical, it is emotional, and until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen=\"yes\" class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/embedded-video\/mmvo265959493641\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kean\u2019s reappearance came weeks after his victory in an uncontested primary on June 2 and months after he last cast his vote in the House. His speech ended the silence on his condition, yet left questions unanswered. Kean said he first entered the hospital due to health concerns and underwent testing, but offered no further details.<\/p>\n<p>After the speech, Kean left the Capitol quickly without answering questions from reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Kean last voted in the House on March 5. His absence had complicated matters for House Republican leaders, who have been struggling to pass bills with their threadbare majority.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing his earlier statement that he expected to return to work in a matter of weeks, Kean said he believed that at the time and it was his doctors\u2019 best estimate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover there is no timeline for healing,&#8221; Kean said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday I stand before you healthier, stronger and excited to return to the work that I love.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A second-term lawmaker and scion of a\u00a0New Jersey political family, Kean represents a battleground district that includes President Donald Trump\u2019s Bedminster golf club.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2545\">Nursing gains \u2018professional\u2019 label for student loans after ruling, theology dropped<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Kean&#8217;s last vote was months ago<\/h2>\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<h2>What the House speaker says about Kean\u2019s return<\/h2>\n<p>Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke before Kean&#8217;s speech and predicted that people would respond with empathy to his disclosure. He said he encouraged Kean to \u201cbe transparent\u201d when he addresses his colleagues \u2014 and the public \u2014 on his return.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no conspiracy involved in this, nothing scandalous at all,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIf it were me, I would have been more specific about that and I encouraged him to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson added that he thinks Kean would be \u201ceasily\u201d reelected in November.<\/p>\n<p>The mystery over Kean&#8217;s absence had potential political implications, given the competitive district he represents and the Republican Party&#8217;s narrow control of the House. His office has said he is still running for reelection and is\u00a0set to face\u00a0Democratic nominee Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, in New Jersey&#8217;s most high-profile contest in November.<\/p>\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>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2543\">Supreme Court strikes down limits on party spending in federal elections<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. said Tuesday that he was being treated for depression during his unexplained four-month absence from the House<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[235],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-jersey"],"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. says depression led to long absence from Congress - Jacksonville Moving News<\/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:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2548\" \/>\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. says depression led to long absence from Congress - Jacksonville Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Jersey Republican Rep. 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