Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) will miss votes once again this week due to a medical issue, his office has informed the New Jersey Globe, but the nature and scope of his health troubles remain unknown.
Harrison Neely, a Kean spokesperson, had no further updates to his statement from last week, which asserted that Kean is “expected to be totally fine” and will be “back to a full schedule soon.”
Kean has been absent from Congress for more than a month, and little information has been provided about what’s ailing him or when he’s expected to return. He last cast a vote on March 5, and has missed 37 roll-call votes beginning on March 16; after his first week of missed votes, his office similarly said that he’d be back “soon.”
The congressman has also not made any in-person appearances recently, and photos posted in the last few weeks to his social media account appear to have been taken prior to the start of his medical issue. His office remains active, introducing legislation and penning letters to Trump administration officials, but Kean’s day-to-day involvement in its work is unknown.
As long as Kean remains missing from Congress, House GOP leaders will have to account for the loss of another vote in their already incredibly narrow majority. Just this past week, two votes – one of them a closely watched, and ultimately unsuccessful, resolution ending U.S. involvement in Iran – were decided by just one vote, showing how tenuous the Republican margins are.
That math will only get tighter after tonight, when Rep.-elect Analilia Mejia (D-Glen Ridge), who won an April 16 special election for a seat bordering Kean’s, is sworn in. After Mejia takes office, Republicans will have 218 seats to Democrats’ 214, but Kean’s indefinite absence essentially removes one GOP vote from that equation.
Kean is also a politically important member of that House majority, given that the district he represents, the 7th district in suburban North and Central Jersey, is one of the country’s most competitive. Democrats view Kean as highly vulnerable in November, and four well-funded Democrats are running for the nomination to challenge him.