Rep. Tom Kean Returns to Congress After Four Months, Cites Depression
Article excerpt
After nearly four months away from public life, New Jersey Republican Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. Returned to the House floor and told his colleagues he owed them an explanation. The explanation he gave was a single word, essentially: depression. What he did not give was a press conference, an interview, or any direct answers to the journalists waiting outside. Kean, who represents New Jersey's 7th congressional district, had vanished from public view so completely that even his own constituents had no formal accounting of where their representative had gone or when he might return. His floor speech acknowledged the debt he owed the people who elected him, but the particulars of his condition, his treatment, and who inside Congress knew what and when remain unanswered. The absence stretched across months of legislative business, raising practical questions about representation that go beyond any one member's personal struggle. Mental health disclosures by elected officials remain rare enough that Kean's acknowledgment carries real weight, even as the incomplete nature of it leaves the accountability question open.
House GOP leadership is sending members home early for the weeklong July 4 recess, after a GOP blockade shut down the floor for the second week in a row.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) canceled scheduled votes over his inability to pass procedural rule votes to allow legislation to come to the floor, as a coalition of Republicans is refusing to vote to advance legislation over a grab bag of issues, including the Senate’s inability to pass the SAVE America Act.
Johnson attempted to advance legislation on the National Defense Authorization Act, a defense spending bill, and merge the two priorities after meeting with different factions of his caucus. Johnson could only afford to lose three votes due to his slim majority.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) led the GOP blockade that started last week over the flagship voter ID bill. The Florida Republican, along with a coalition of members, has vowed to vote against the procedural rule until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act.
Ultimately, 14 House Republicans voted Tuesday to take down a procedural measure to attach the SAVE America Act to the $1.15 trillion defense spending bill. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was one of the 14 “no” votes, but his vote served as a loophole to bring the vote back up for consideration at a later time without referring the measure to the House Rules Committee.
Luna rejected Johnson’s plan to merge the two pieces of legislation, saying the speaker’s method “would not guarantee that the Senate picks up this piece of legislation.”
“We’ve passed SAVE America now three times, and the Senate has refused to act,” Luna told reporters Tuesday. “In fact, they’re on vacation right now. I have talked to Sen. Mike Lee. I’ve run through the procedural hurdles with my own team. I’ve even gone as far as reaching out directly to see what are the fail-safe options.”
Luna continued, “There’s other issues that other members had, but the fact that I’m being singled out because I know procedure, I’m not stupid. I’m going to fight on behalf of the American people.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a member of the Rules Committee, told reporters that his “no” vote stemmed from the House’s “failure to accomplish certain other objectives, including codification of the Trump border security, in terms of certain amendments that were not made in order that I think should have been.”
Meanwhile, House Democrats have slammed their Republican counterparts.
“We are at yet another Republican standstill,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) said in a video. “They are fighting with themselves, and we are doing nothing to help the American people. And you know what is at the heart of this fight? Taking away your right to vote and passing Trump’s Save Act.”
FOURTEEN REPUBLICANS PARALYZE HOUSE FLOOR OVER SAVE AMERICA ACT CONCERNS
The House remains frustrated with the Senate’s failure to pass this legislation, but the addition of the SAVE America Act to the defense spending bill likely would have doomed the legislation in the Senate, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has been unable to bring the measure to the president’s desk. Thune has chalked up the failure of passage to the semantics in his chamber, particularly the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
The House is not scheduled to return until July 13. When they return, the House will only have eight legislative days until the chamber leaves Washington once again for a monthlong August recess.