Where in the world is this Republican congressman?

WASHINGTON – For most Americans, skipping work for almost three months with little explanation would be a one-way ticket to unemployment.

But for members of Congress, the rules don't always apply.

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a Republican who represents much of northwestern New Jersey, hasn't been seen on Capitol Hill since early March, when he last cast a vote in the House of Representatives.

Since then, no one seems to fully know what happened, where he's been or why he left.

The only widely agreed-upon fact is that Kean, the 57-year-old son of former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean Sr., says he has been suffering from a vague medical issue, which he's promised to fully disclose at some point.

"We're just worried about him," Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, said. "We hope he's OK."

The mystery has consumed Washington for weeks, leaving some Garden State voters shocked and alarmed. Kean's enigmatic absence also has had political consequences, jeopardizing Speaker Mike Johnson's already-slim GOP majority in the House – and by extension, President Donald Trump's agenda in an important midterm election year.

The situation has also prompted a wider debate about the tension between lawmakers' right to some degree of personal privacy and their broader professional responsibilities.

In the eyes of Kean's supporters, he's taking a much-needed break to make a health recovery. To his critics, however, he's a public servant with a six-figure, taxpayer-supported salary – who hasn't done much lately to earn it.

"If you were missing work, you would tell your boss," Michael Roth, one of the Democrats running to replace him, said during a May 12 primary debate. "Tom Kean Jr.’s boss is the people."

James Hely, a longtime resident of Kean's hometown and the president of the Westfield Rotary Club, said although he "completely disagrees" with the congressman's politics, "a guy's medical problems, to me, are private."

"I don't find this terribly problematic," he told USA TODAY. "It's problematic for Mike Johnson."

Other New Jerseyans haven't been so forgiving.

"It's pretty shocking and fairly alarming to me as a voter," Bobby Anderson, a chef in Somerville, told NBC News.

Kean resurfaces, talks to a reporter

Nearly three months into his mysterious disappearance, Kean abruptly peeked back into public view on May 21.

In a phone call with a reporter for the New Jersey Globe, he confirmed he was running for a third term and said he'd be back on the campaign trail and voting "in the next couple of weeks."

"My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery," he said. "I understand the need for public transparency, and I appreciate the support of my constituents."

Yet for many onlookers, the interview sparked more questions than answers.

For one thing, Kean did not specify his illness, though he said he expected no chronic complications or cognitive impairments. And while he vowed to "fully disclose" the details of his health issue "soon," he didn't commit to a specific timeline.

The day before the Globe interview published, New Jersey's two other GOP congressmen, Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, told USA TODAY they didn't have any updates on Kean's condition and weren't sure exactly when to expect him back in Washington.

On May 21, USA TODAY reached out to a number listed as Kean's in records and with his voice as the outgoing message. Several texts and a call went unanswered. Attempts to reach his wife were unsuccessful. Kean's chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, did not respond to a request for comment – though in a May 20 social media post, he called his boss an "exceptionally effective member of Congress."

Mike Johnson, Kean and unforgiving math

Kean last cast a House vote on March 5. He's missed roughly 100 votes in Congress.

Much of the legislative action that's happened in the interim has demonstrated just how slim the GOP majority is in the House, where Speaker Johnson can essentially only afford to lose two supporters on any given vote. That unforgiving political math has made typically painless procedural votes drag on for hours.

Case in point: On the same day Kean briefly resurfaced, Republican leaders abruptly canceled a vote on a measure to end the war in Iran over fears it would pass due to defections and absences. Just before that, half a dozen GOP members surprisingly sided with Democrats to sink a bill that would've prevented transgender women from being featured in the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. Both instances demonstrated the consequences of losing even a handful of votes in the 435-member chamber.

Through it all, Johnson has stood behind Kean. Even as public scrutiny of the congressman's absence reached a fever pitch on May 20, the speaker gave a passionate defense of the New Jersey lawmaker. He said he'd spoken to Kean by phone "a few weeks ago" and expected him back in Washington "soon."

"He's had a medical issue," Johnson told reporters. "I don't even know the details, and I have to respect that."

Could Democrats pick up Kean's seat?

Where Republicans see a difficult personal issue, Democrats see an opportunity.

With Kean running unopposed in the June 2 Republican primary, whichever Democrat faces off against him in November will almost certainly shape their campaign around his disappearance. Long before the controversy, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report last year shifted the general election outlook for Kean's district from leaning Republican to a toss-up.

"Career politician Tom Kean Jr. has never been more vulnerable," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Eli Cousin said in a statement. "He will be held accountable for betraying New Jersey families and for the damage he has inflicted when he’s actually been in Washington to vote."

Despite those headwinds, Johnson, who'll need every seat he can get in the midterms to keep Republicans in the majority, is confident Kean can pull through.

"He'll get reelected," Johnson said. "Proud to stand with him."

Contributing: Edward Forbes, Northjersey.com

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.

Jennifer Borresen is a graphics reporter for USA TODAY.