Congressman Tom Kean Jr. Resurfaces After Four-Month Absence
Tom Kean Jr., a Republican congressman from New Jersey, has finally explained his mysterious four-month absence from work, during which he missed over 100 votes while continuing to collect his full $174,000 taxpayer-funded salary. Kean revealed this week that he had been receiving inpatient treatment for depression. His office had previously only issued a cryptic statement in late April citing a “personal health matter,” and his father, former New Jersey governor Tom Kean Sr., told CNN in May that his son was battling a temporary illness.
Hypocrisy on Paid Leave
Kean’s extended paid leave stands in stark contrast to his voting record on similar benefits for ordinary Americans. According to Mother Jones, Kean voted against New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Act, which mandates five paid sick days per year for workers. He also opposed New Jersey’s No Surprise Medical Bills Act and two paid family leave laws in 2008 and 2018. The United States remains the only OECD country without a national paid leave policy. A 2024 Department of Labor fact sheet notes that among the lowest wage workers—predominantly women and people of color—95% have no access to paid family leave and 90% lack short-term disability leave.
Broader Republican Hypocrisy
Kean is not alone in his hypocrisy. Many Republican politicians have been accused of similar double standards. In 2017, Representative Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania resigned after pressuring a mistress to have an abortion, despite his anti-abortion stance. Elliott Broidy, a top Trump fundraiser, resigned in 2018 after paying $1.6 million to a Playboy Playmate for an abortion. Herschel Walker, a former football star and failed Senate candidate, was accused of paying for an abortion, though he denied it. Despite these contradictions, Republican voters often remain unswayed.
Impact on American Democracy
Kean’s actions highlight a broader sickness in American democracy, where politicians create separate rules for themselves and their constituents. Instead of making up for lost time, Kean’s calendar is filled with fundraisers for his re-election. As Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez noted, “There’s a valid discussion here about when it comes to the volume of an absence, what is our responsibility to our constituents in communicating around that?” The incident underscores the lack of accountability and empathy in political leadership.
