{"id":73855,"date":"2026-05-21T22:01:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T03:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/rep-tom-kean-jr-says-he-expects-to-return-to-congress-in-the-next-couple-of-weeks-after-missing-100-votes\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T22:01:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T03:01:26","slug":"rep-tom-kean-jr-says-he-expects-to-return-to-congress-in-the-next-couple-of-weeks-after-missing-100-votes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/rep-tom-kean-jr-says-he-expects-to-return-to-congress-in-the-next-couple-of-weeks-after-missing-100-votes\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Tom Kean Jr. says he expects to return to Congress &#8216;in the next couple of weeks&#8217; after missing 100 votes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., said Thursday that he expects to return to Congress &#8220;in the next couple of weeks&#8221; after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/swing-seat-republican-sidelined-serious-illness-misses-88-votes-majority-hangs-thread\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">missing 100 consecutive House votes<\/a> during an extended absence tied to what his office has described only as a &#8220;personal health matter.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My doctors are confident that I\u2019m on the road to a full recovery,&#8221; Kean, 57, told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/us-regions\/northeast\/new-jersey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Jersey<\/a> Globe in his first public comments since stepping away from Capitol Hill in March.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I understand the need for public transparency, and I appreciate the support of my constituents,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I anticipate that in the next couple of weeks, I\u2019ll return to voting and to the campaign trail.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Kean last voted on March 5 and has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/house-republican-misses-another-week-votes-health-absence-strains-thin-majority\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">missed every House roll call<\/a> vote since then, according to GovTrack. His absence has drawn heightened attention because Republicans hold a slim majority in the House and because Kean represents one of the country\u2019s most competitive congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/tom-kean-jrs-prolonged-absence-puts-pressure-house-republicans-razor-thin-majority\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TOM KEAN JR&#8217;S PROLONGED ABSENCE PUTS PRESSURE ON HOUSE REPUBLICANS&#8217; RAZOR-THIN MAJORITY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>His office has repeatedly declined to disclose details about the illness, saying only that the congressman is focused on recovery and expected to return &#8220;soon.&#8221; Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Kean for additional comment.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Kean\u2019s father, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean Sr., told NJ.com that his son was recovering from a &#8220;serious illness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can\u2019t say definitely, but their best guess is now he\u2019ll be out in two or three weeks,&#8221; Kean Sr. said, referring to doctors treating his son. &#8220;Any time you\u2019ve been through a serious illness, you can\u2019t be 100% the day you get back. You\u2019re gonna be able to do things, but gradually ramping up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/complex-partial-seizure-ruled-cause-pausing-episode-during-house-floor-speech-dem-congressman-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>COMPLEX PARTIAL SEIZURE RULED AS CAUSE OF PAUSING EPISODE DURING HOUSE FLOOR SPEECH, DEM CONGRESSMAN SAYS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kean Sr. also said doctors expect his son to make a full recovery but declined to discuss the diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p>House Speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/mike-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mike Johnson<\/a>, R-La., told reporters this week that he had spoken with Kean recently but was unaware of details surrounding the congressman\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019re expecting him back here soon. He\u2019s had a medical issue,&#8221; Johnson said Wednesday. &#8220;I don\u2019t even know the details.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/johnson-warns-house-republicans-stay-healthy-gop-majority-shrinks-edge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>JOHNSON WARNS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO \u2018STAY HEALTHY\u2019 AS GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO THE EDGE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The absence has become a growing political issue in New Jersey as Democrats target Kean\u2019s swing district. Kean is running unopposed in the Republican primary on June 2, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/democrat-tina-shah-calls-transgender-healthcare-children-no-brainer-competitive-nj-house-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">several Democrats are competing<\/a> for their party\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, a top Kean aide told The New York Times, &#8220;There\u2019s no cameras where Tom is.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Kean consultant Harrison Neely said this week the congressman remains committed to seeking reelection.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What I can tell you is that the congressman is dealing with a personal health matter. He is focused on his recovery,&#8221; Neely told the New York Post.<\/p>\n<p><i>Fox News Digital&#8217;s Adam Pack contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., said Thursday that he expects to return to Congress &#8220;in the next couple of weeks&#8221; after missing 100 consecutive House votes during an extended absence tied to what his office has described only as a &#8220;personal health matter.&#8221; &#8220;My doctors are confident that I\u2019m on the road to a full &#8230; <a title=\"Rep. Tom Kean Jr. says he expects to return to Congress &#8216;in the next couple of weeks&#8217; after missing 100 votes\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/rep-tom-kean-jr-says-he-expects-to-return-to-congress-in-the-next-couple-of-weeks-after-missing-100-votes\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Rep. Tom Kean Jr. says he expects to return to Congress &#8216;in the next couple of weeks&#8217; after missing 100 votes\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}