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House Republican Makes His First Statement About Mysterious Absence

“As close as I am to Tom and his dad, they’ve made it very clear it’s a personal matter and he’s recovering and will be back soon,” said Bill Palatucci, one of New Jersey’s two...

NYTIMES 입력 2026.04.28 08:36 0

House Republican Makes His First Statement About Mysterious Absence

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House Republican Makes His First Statement About Mysterious Absence

Representative Thomas Kean Jr. of New Jersey, who has missed nearly two months of votes in Washington, said he expected to fully recover from a “personal medical issue” but gave no other details.

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Concern had increased over the mysterious absence of Representative Thomas Kean Jr. from Washington and from his New Jersey district, where he faces a competitive race for re-election.

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Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Tracey Tully

April 27, 2026,

7:35 p.m. ET

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Representative Thomas Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican who has not cast a vote in the House in nearly two months, said on Monday that he expected to make a full recovery from what he called a “personal medical issue,” but offered no additional details about his health or when he might return to Congress.

“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,” he said in his

first public statement

since he began missing votes in Washington last month. “I expect to return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent.”

Mr. Kean, who is running for re-election in one of the country’s most competitive House races, thanked friends and colleagues “on both sides of the aisle” for their “patience and understanding during this time.”

Mr. Kean, 57, last voted on March 5, and

concern had intensified

in the last several weeks over his prolonged absence from Washington and from his North Jersey district. Even fellow Republican lawmakers have said that they had been given no information about Mr. Kean’s health condition, which has taken him away from Congress at a critical moment.

The Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, offered a vague statement last week in which he said that he expected Mr. Kean to be “back to 100 percent very soon.”

But there is no escaping that Mr. Johnson could use Mr. Kean’s help now. The speaker is reliant on a narrow majority as he seeks to pass legislation vital to President Trump’s agenda before the midterm elections in November, including several measures the House is expected to take up this week.

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