Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has been missing from Congress for months, is set to return at the end of June, and one of his first moves will be a fundraiser.
The last time the New Jersey congressman cast a vote in the House was on March 5, before he vanished from public view, with a mysterious health condition.
The 57-year-old is set to return for the House session on June 30 next week. It’s the first return date his office has provided since his absence began more than 100 days ago.
But according to an invitation shared with Politico, the GOP lawmaker’s near first order of business will be attending a fundraiser for his re-election. The reception supporting his re-election bid is scheduled for the evening of June 30.
The Daily Beast reached out to Kean’s office for comment. They did not deny the existence of the fundraising event to Politico.
The New Jersey congressman will then have at least four more fundraisers scheduled for this summer and fall as the midterm campaign season heats up, Politico reported.
While fundraising is standard practice for members of Congress seeking reelection, the Republican lawmaker packing his schedule with events to raise cash comes after he has not been carrying out the duties of the job he is campaigning for in nearly four months.
His extended absence and his congressional office’s bizarre handling of the situation and refusal to provide further details on his mystery health condition have raised questions with constituents and his colleagues on Capitol Hill alike.
Kean was spotted for the first time this week since vanishing from public view in early March when a reporter for The New York Times spotted him standing in a brightly lit room in his home from the street on Wednesday evening. The 57-year-old was wearing a dark suit and red tie.
“It’s good to see you,” he told the reporter, who rang the doorbell, and said he would “talk to you next week” but declined additional comment and closed the door.
The Times reported that his wife, Rhonda, stood in the background smiling during the exchange.
Since his mysterious disappearance, Kean has missed more than 100 House floor votes. As the pressure mounted over where he was, his office released a statement attributed to the congressman that he was dealing with a “medical issue” but would be back soon.
In May, his chief of staff told The New York Times he was dealing with a personal health condition and sparked further questions with the line, “There’s no cameras where Tom is,” he declined to elaborate on Kean’s condition.
However, his social media has remained extremely active in his absence. A series of stock trades has also been executed in Kean’s name despite his vanishing act.
Earlier this month, Speaker Mike Johnson defended the New Jersey congressman’s absence and claimed he had spoken to Kean over the weekend, and he was “in good spirits.”
Johnson argued that Kean was dealing with a health issue, was under the care of healthcare providers and was told he needed a bit longer to recover.
His prolonged disappearance and set date to return come as Republicans are fighting to hold onto their slim majority in the House. Kean’s New Jersey 7th congressional district seat is seen as one of the most competitive in the country.
The New Jersey lawmaker, who previously served in the New Jersey Senate, flipped the district from blue to red in 2022 before winning his reelection in 2024 by just over 5 points.
Ahead of the primary, in which Kean ran unopposed, the congressman released another statement in which he said he was recovering and would return to work in person in a “matter of weeks” at which time he vowed to be “completely transparent” about the nature of his medical condition.
Kean is set to go up against Democratic nominee and former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett in November. Bennett has repeatedly blasted Kean’s unexplained absence on the campaign trail.
The Democratic campaign arm slammed the report that Kean would be fundraising the very first day of his return.
“Tom Kean Jr. has time to trade stocks and fundraise with his wealthy donors, but hasn’t found the time to be transparent with his constituents about why he’s been missing from work for months while taking a taxpayer salary,” said DCCC spokesperson Eli Cousin in a statement. “He represents everything that people hate about corrupt career politicians.”
