TRENTON, N.J. — Congressman Tom Kean Jr.'s' last vote was on March 5, joining 215 Republicans to block a War Powers Resolution that would have withdrawn American forces from Iran.

The Republican incumbent from New Jersey's 7th District now sits in the third month of an absence that has frozen his legislative participation. House Clerk records show Kean cast his last vote that Wednesday. He has not appeared on the floor since. NBC News reported on May 13 that he has missed 68 roll-call votes, including funding to avert a Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

Until now, the absence had been measured only in missed roll calls. Last week produced the first visible disruption to his district schedule. The Morris County Chamber of Commerce confirmed on May 12 that Kean would not appear at its Annual Washington Update, set for May 28 at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park. Chamber officials posted a statement on their website, noting the congressman's ongoing health concerns and stating that they were seeking replacement speakers.

The announcement marks the first canceled district event on record since April 28, when Kean issued his only public statement on the matter through CBS News New York. "I want to thank my constituents and colleagues for their patience as I address a personal medical issue," Kean wrote. "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." House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told Fox News Digital on April 24 that Kean was dealing with a health issue and expected a full recovery shortly.

Union County Republican Chair Carlos Santos has been the only county party official to address the absence. "I don't even know the truth myself or even enough to disclose any information," Santos told Politico on April 23. "But I have been texting with him and was told he'll be fine and make a full recovery in the next couple weeks."

Democratic candidates seeking to challenge Kean in November directly criticized his absence at a May 12 debate at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway. At a May 12 debate at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, Michael Roth said that if a worker missed their job, they would tell their boss, and Kean's boss is the people. "He did not tell us. That's it," Roth said. Tina Shah said the public elected Kean, not his staff. Brian Varela pointed to Kean's scripted telephone calls to voters "that are kind of weird."

Democratic primary candidate Rebecca Bennett said Kean was the deciding vote on the "One Big Beautiful Bill." The House passed that legislation in May 2025, on a 215–214 roll call with one member voting present. Kean was one of 215 Republicans who voted yes; no Democrats supported the bill.

Bennett told the same audience that tens of thousands in the district were losing health insurance access because of it. She said that he was nowhere to be found when President Trump blocked funding for the Gateway Tunnel project in October 2025 and when the administration bought a warehouse for immigrant detention in Roxbury in February. The Roxbury Township Council criticized Kean that month for failing to advocate against the purchase, though that predated the health absence.

Kean's official campaign spokesman, Harrison Neely, continues to issue statements on his behalf. Federal Election Commission first-quarter filings show Kean raised $4.37 million with $3.36 million cash on hand through March 31. Kean faces no Republican opponent on the June 2 primary ballot, leaving Republican voters in Hunterdon, Warren, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties with no alternative if his absence continues.

The New Jersey Division of Elections confirms that mail ballots began leaving county offices April 18, and early voting opens May 26. County printing deadlines and the ongoing distribution of mail ballots would make replacement difficult, and no New Jersey election official has addressed whether substitution remains possible at this stage. Kean’s name will appear on Republican primary ballots regardless of whether he resumes campaigning or remains absent through June 2, and the nominee will proceed to the general election.

The House retains the power to expel a member with a two-thirds vote, but that power has never been used to remove an incapacitated member, only to punish misconduct. A member may resign, but an incapacitated member cannot. Historical precedents show the House improvising around this gap. In 1972, Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-LA) disappeared in a plane crash; the House never declared his seat vacant, and he was declared dead the following year. In 1980, Representative Gladys Spellman (D-MD) was elected while comatose; the House passed a resolution declaring her seat vacant rather than swear her in.

Neither situation produced a mechanism for temporary incapacity. The structural gap leaves constituents across Hunterdon, Warren, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties with no voting representative for an indefinite period.

Kean's committee assignments compound the district exposure. House Clerk records show he sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee's Health, Communications and Technology, and Commerce Manufacturing and Trade subcommittees. The Health subcommittee held a legislative hearing on April 15. Kean sits on that subcommittee, and no public record indicates he attended. Health subcommittee hearings are scheduled for May 20. Staff have not confirmed whether Kean will attend the sessions.

Republican opinion has divided over how to handle the silence. Bill Palatucci, a Republican National Committeeman and Kean campaign lawyer, told NJ.com on April 27 that voters would understand. "Everyone understands from their own family experiences that people can run into unexpected health issues," he said. "For that reason, voters will be completely sympathetic, and it's also so early in the campaign cycle that this will be long forgotten come the fall."

Bob Hugin, who chaired the New Jersey Republican Party from 2021 to 2025, took a different view. He told the same outlet that he had inquired about Kean's health and been told only that the congressman was going to be fine. "I wish there was more transparency," Hugin said. "I think it's in everybody's best interest to have whatever information is available."

Others have argued that the pressure for disclosure has gone too far. Mary Van Lieu, a former Republican mayor of Pohatcong who donated to Kean's reelection campaign last year, told the New York Times that the public was prying too deeply. "We invade people's privacy too much," she said. "If it was something where his vote was really, really needed, an effort to get him there would be made." The New York Times reported that Westfield Police confirmed no emergency medical calls had reached Kean's home since the start of March.

Reporters have pressed for additional details beyond what Kean's office has disclosed. Harrison Neely, attacked CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski on X after Kaczynski called Kean's daughter and family members of staff as part of an investigation into the absence. "This is a rich charge coming from a 'journalist' who has called the Congressman's daughter and family members of staff," Neely wrote. "Creepy."

Kean's father, 91-year-old former Governor Thomas Kean Sr., told CNN's K-File team late last week that his son has a "serious illness" but refused to disclose what, saying that was up to the congressman. "He's hopefully coming back soon and he's under the care of a doctor," Kean Sr. said. "They all agree he's going to be fine." According to a CNN report published Monday evening, House GOP leaders have not been able to determine Kean's current whereabouts, and his prolonged absence has complicated the party's legislative arithmetic given its narrow majority.

House Democratic staffers have also noticed the silence. Aaron Fritschner, chief of staff to a House Democrat, posted on X Monday that Kean's office is still sending constituent newsletters written in the first person despite the prolonged absence.

"Tom Kean's office still sending out constituent newsletters like the guy hasn't vanished off the face of the earth," Fritschner wrote. Kaczynski replied that it was "creepy and weird to send out first person newsletters when your missing and possibly incapacitated (?) and staff won't tell your constituents what's going on."

The primary is two weeks away, with early voting opening May 26. Mail ballots have been distributed for a month; Kean's name appears on every Republican primary ballot in Hunterdon, Warren, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties. In Washington, the House Clerk will keep calling his name. Whether he returns to answer it is a question only Tom Kean Jr. can answer, and he has not spoken publicly in three weeks.

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Sources

• U.S. House Clerk, "Roll Call Votes" (ongoing)

• Federal Election Commission, "Tom Kean for Congress Q1 2026 Filing" (March 31, 2026)

• New Jersey Division of Elections, "2026 Primary Election Calendar" (2026)

• New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 19:57-27 (2025)

• Roxbury Township, "Statement on Immigration Processing Facility" (February 2026)

• John J. Martin, Stanford Law Review, "A Congressional Incapacity Amendment to the United States Constitution" (August 23, 2023)

• Bipartisan Policy Center, "What If a Member of Congress Is Severely Incapacitated" (March 26, 2020)

• NBC News, "Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr.'s two-month absence continues" (May 13, 2026)

• Insider NJ, "Kean Update" (May 12, 2026)

• Nick Caloway, CBS News New York, "New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. absent from Congress due to medical issue" (April 28, 2026)

• Fox News Digital, "Rep Tom Kean Jr misses 50 votes" (April 27, 2026)

• New Jersey Globe, "House Speaker says he spoke with Kean" (April 24, 2026)

• Daniel Han and Mia McCarthy, Politico, "Tom Kean Jr.'s missed votes" (April 23, 2026)

• The New York Times, "The Mystery of a Congressman's Absence Deepens" (May 14, 2026)

• The New York Times, "Concern Grows Over Republican Congressman's Absence" (April 23, 2026)

• NJ Monitor, "Tom Kean Jr.'s absence from Congress prompts criticism" (May 14, 2026)

• NJ.com, "Kean's Absence Extends Into Third Month" (April 27, 2026)

• NJ Spotlight News, "Concerns grow about Kean's health" (April 22, 2026)

• The Hill, "House passes Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'" (May 22, 2025)

• Andrew Kaczynski, CNN, "K-File" report (May 19, 2026)

• Alex Griffing, Mediaite, "Tom Kean Jr. Staffer for Missing Congressman Slams CNN Reporter for Trying to Track Him Down" (May 20, 2026)

• Staff, The Daily Beast, "Staffer for Missing Congressman Slams CNN Reporter" (May 20, 2026)

• U.S. House of Representatives, Energy and Commerce Committee, "Hearing Calendar" (April–May 2026)