Scrutiny ramps up over mystery of missing lawmakers

Scrutiny of lawmakers absent from Washington due to mysterious health issues is ramping up as two House members — Reps. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) — have missed weeks of votes.

The absences come as leaders in both parties are encouraging full participation from their members, given the razor-thin margins in the House.

And in the instance of Kean, who represents a swing district, the absence could affect his reelection campaign and, by extension, the balance of power in Congress next year.

Kean, 57, has not voted since March 5 due to what his campaign called a “personal medical issue,” without further elaboration. And while an April 27 statement said he expects to “return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent” in the “near future,” he remained absent as the House returned this week.

Wilson, 83, has not voted since April 17, though she is expected back in the Capitol next week.

Her monthlong absence went largely unexplained and unnoticed until reporter Jamie Dupree noted her absence in a post on the social platform X on Wednesday, leading reporters to ask House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) about it.

“She’s recovering from a procedure, and I expect that she’ll be back shortly,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. 

Republican leaders, by contrast, say they are unaware of what Kean’s actual medical issue is and are not sure when he will be back to work in the House.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday that he spoke to Kean about two weeks ago, and he “sounded great.”

“He said he was out on a medical issue and he’ll be back as soon as possible. That’s the full extent of........

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