Tom Kean’s Absence Shows How Congress Has Failed Itself

About a decade ago, Rep. Adam Smith was oddly relieved when his chronic hip pain grew so awful that he had to have surgeries and miss time on Capitol Hill.

“Now at least I have something socially acceptable wrong with me,” the Washington Democrat recalled thinking.

In fact, Smith was battling deep anxiety and depression, leading to a three-month span where he missed 96% of roll calls in the House. His public explanations only cited the hip issues and never mentioned his mental health.

Public acceptance of mental health issues has improved in the last 10 years, but as the recent struggles of Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-New Jersey) demonstrated, the stigma — or the perception of stigma — is still a difficult thing for politicians to discuss.

After missing nearly four months of work in Congress, Kean revealed Tuesday that he was diagnosed with depression, and it was severe enough that he was hospitalized. In a brief floor speech, Kean said that he was a “private person by nature” and for a while didn’t want to talk about his depression.

Without going into detail about his treatment, Kean indicated he would continue to serve. Republican leaders expect him to run for reelection in his battleground district in the New Jersey suburbs.

“Recovery is possible,” he said. Kean declined to answer any follow-up questions from reporters.

There are no formal rules for lawmakers around disclosing their health issues and no requirements regarding what they reveal to their constituents, party leaders or even their own staff.

Other politicians who have dealt with similar mental health issues thanked Kean for finally speaking out about the matter, but some wished he had revealed the issue sooner.

“I’m living proof it’s possible to be a United States congressman and cope with a condition like major depression disorder,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-New York), who more than a decade ago was hospitalized for suicidal ideation, told NOTUS Tuesday. “We have to be honest and open about whatever medical challenges we’re facing. We owe the public nothing but complete transparency. That’s the price we pay for elected office.”

Each lawmaker is effectively an independent contractor making up his or her own rules about what they reveal about their health. Some have been very transparent, such as Sen. John Fetterman revealing he was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for “major depression” in early 2023, following a stroke he had during his 2022 Senate campaign.

The Pennsylvania Democrat’s staff released detailed statements about who his doctor was and all the treatments he received after several weeks of in-patient neuropsychiatry treatments. Some colleagues visited him in the hospital, and after his release, Fetterman did several long interviews detailing his struggles.

Others have opened up about the issue and ended up feeling rejected by voters and colleagues. In late August 2024, then-Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colorado) revealed that she had “severe” depression that she sought help for at Walter Reed, hoping that speaking would help “destigmatize mental illness.”

Caraveo lost her reelection in a battleground district outside Denver by about 2,500 votes and, as she considered running again in 2026, gave detailed interviews about her past suicidal thoughts and all she had overcome.

Support from Democratic Party officials fell apart and made it pointless to run again, she said in a statement last year. “I hope that one day we will see more acceptance and understanding of illnesses like depression, and that leaders at all levels will be able to support those in need in actions and not just words.”

One fellow Republican mocked Kean’s explanation for his lengthy absence. “Who gets to take four months off of work because they’re sad?” Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert said, telling TMZ Kean’s explanation was “embarrassing” and he should just “build up a tolerance to it.”

Until returning Tuesday, Kean was not seen in public for more than 110 days, during which President Donald Trump publicly endorsed his reelection campaign and he easily won his party’s nomination for another term.

Asked Tuesday whether Kean should run for reelection, House Speaker Mike Johnson called it “a really unfair question” and told reporters he watched Kean’s speech.

“I sent him a note as soon as he walked off the floor and said we’re in your corner and we’re behind you 100 percent,” he said.

Democrats were careful to try not to politicize the issue. “Well, that’s a decision that his constituents are going to have to make, but I wish him well in terms of a full and complete recovery,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NOTUS.

Some lawmakers believe addressing the issue could be a net benefit politically because so many Americans now have dealt with some form of mental illness.

“I feel like, if you’re open and honest with the public, it’s going to make your constituents more empathetic. Most people are decent, and the stigma around mental health has been eroding,” Torres said.

However, Torres faced his most serious mental health struggles as a young adult, long before he entered electoral politics. He now represents a heavily Democratic district that he’s won by 50 to 60 percentage points.

Kean’s district is only about 60 miles west of Torres’, but it’s a world apart politically — a perennial tossup seat that’s been decided by 5 percentage points or less in the last four elections.

Even Fetterman’s detailed revelations about his deep depression came soon after he won in 2022 and more than five years before he would have to face voters again.

Getting healthier oftentimes requires time away from elected office.

That’s what happened to former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, a Democratic House member for 16 years who served in leadership roles and whose battles with addiction and mental health were out in the open.

Only after retiring in January 2011, at 43 years old, did he successfully tackle his personal demons. Sober for more than 15 years, Kennedy founded several nonprofits focused on mental health issues.

“I hope his story opens the door to a broader conversation about mental health care in America,” Kennedy told NOTUS in a statement about Kean. “Like most people who achieve long-term recovery, I was aided by tangible, ongoing support when facing mental health and addiction. I enjoyed health insurance that helped pay for my treatment, caring family members, and a connection with a community that had my back.”

The day after Kean returned to the House, he introduced legislation to penalize providers who fail to treat mental health the same as physical ailments. That proposal adds greater enforcement tools to a mental health parity law that then-Rep. Kennedy championed in Congress and considers his most important accomplishment.

Smith empathizes with Kean’s initial decision to hide what he went through.

“If you’ve never gone through depression or anxiety, you just don’t know what it is, and you don’t know how hard it is, and how it consumes every second of your life,” he told NOTUS in an interview Tuesday.

Smith, who wrote a book about his past health struggles in 2023, regrets that he wasn’t fully forthcoming to his constituents or his colleagues.

“I explained to people I was recovering from hip surgery, which I’ll be honest with you — that was not entirely honest,” he said, noting it was a “huge part” of his health issues. “But you know, anxiety is what made those hip surgeries so much more difficult than they otherwise would have been.”