Nikki McCann Ramirez
View all posts by Nikki McCann Ramirez June 30, 2026
Rep. Tom Kean (R-N.J.) returned to the Capitol after an almost four-month absence on June 30. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Inc./Getty Images Rep. Tom Kean is back in the House after a mysterious 117-day absence during which the New Jersey Republican missed at least 100 votes. He, finally, has provided an explanation as to why he disappeared from his elected office for nearly four months, in what other lawmakers have described as “radio silence.”
“Several months ago, due to health concerns, I entered the hospital for some testing. I did not believe that this would result in a long-term stay [and] I was given the diagnosis of depression,” Kean said in a floor speech on Tuesday.
“Now, when people hear the word depression, many people think it simply means feeling sad. But depression is so much more than that,” he added. “The doctors recommended that I remain in the hospital to address my illness. They explained to me that this would be the fastest way to recovery, and to be honest, I was hesitant. I didn’t think that I had time for it — I had responsibilities to my constituents. I had responsibilities to this institution. And like many people, I believed that I could simply push through.”
Kean added that he originally thought he would only be absent from Congress for a few weeks, but that “as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover, there is no timeline for healing. There is no timeline for recovery, only the work of getting better one day at a time.”
