2026年6月30日 / 美国东部时间早上6:00 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿讯 —— 新泽西州联邦众议员、共和党人汤姆·基恩二世预计将于周二返回国会山，此前一起未公开的疾病让他数月未公开露面。
正在竞争连任第三任期的基恩，上一次投票是在3月5日，期间他缺席了超过140次投票，而众议院共和党领导层正以极为紧张的推进节奏推进其立法优先事项。
在他长期缺席的情况变得明显后，众议院议长迈克·约翰逊表示，他已于4月24日与基恩通了电话，基恩当时“正在处理个人健康问题，并预计很快就能完全康复”。几周后约翰逊告诉记者，基恩在那次通话中“听起来状态不错，态度乐观”。这位路易斯安那州的共和党议员补充道：“我甚至不清楚具体细节”。
基恩首次就自己的缺席发表公开声明是在4月下旬，当时这位国会议员称他正在处理“个人医疗问题”。
“我的医生持续向我保证，我的康复将彻底完成，我很快就能回到我热爱的工作岗位，”这份4月27日的声明写道。“我预计将恢复全部日程安排，恢复到百分之百的状态。”
他并未透露该问题的具体细节，而数周后其幕僚和家人的表态反而加深了外界对他缺席缘由的疑惑。
“汤姆所在的地方没有摄像头，”他的办公厅主任告诉《纽约时报》，并拒绝进一步解释。
基恩的父亲、新泽西州前州长汤姆·基恩一世于5月15日告诉NJ.com网站，儿子的病情“严重但暂时”，他正在外地接受医生治疗。他还补充道：“他再过两三个星期就能出院了。”
“确实是一场重病让他倒下了，”老基恩在5月15日接受美国有线电视新闻网采访时表示。“这场病不会拖延太久。这不是那种未来会让他丧失行动能力的疾病。各方共识是他会完全康复的。”
尽管如此，基恩的社交媒体账户仍继续以第一人称发布内容。他还提交了立法提案，并以电子方式签署了关于其股票交易的国会披露文件，这些电子签名的日期分别为3月18日、4月13日和5月22日。
在5月21日接受《新泽西环球报》电话采访时，基恩表示他的医生“有信心我正走在完全康复的道路上”，并且他理解“公众需要透明度”。
他于6月2日通过其竞选团队发布了另一份声明，当天正是他的党内初选投票日，他在初选中无对手参选。
“目前我专注于康复，并遵循医疗专业人士的建议，将在几周内从远程办公转为现场办公。届时我将完全公开我的病情的具体性质，”基恩说道。
当被问及国会议员缺席数月却不进一步解释是否合适时，约翰逊表示“这根本不是什么丑闻”。
“我确实知道他的健康问题是什么，但他要求我不要披露，我会遵守这个请求，”约翰逊在6月3日的新闻发布会上说道。“他正在应对的问题并不常见，但也不是什么大问题。”
“等他解释的时候，一切都会说得通的，”他说。
在返回国会的前一周，《纽约时报》记者敲门时，基恩在新泽西州的家中开门，他身着西装领带，但拒绝透露缺席的具体细节。
凯特琳·休伊-伯恩斯对本文亦有贡献。
GOP Rep. Tom Kean expected to return to Congress today after mysterious illness
June 30, 2026 / 6:00 AM EDT / CBS News
Washington — Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey is expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday after an undisclosed ailment kept him out of public view for months.
Kean, who is running for a third term in a competitive district, last voted on March 5 and has missed more than 140 votes as House GOP leaders try to advance their legislative priorities with little room to spare.
After his extended absence became apparent, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had spoken with Kean by phone on April 24 and that he was “attending to a personal health matter and expects to be back to 100% very soon.” Johnson told reporters weeks later that Kean “sounded good and optimistic” in the April call. The Louisiana Republican added, “I don’t even know the details” about his condition.
Kean’s first public statement on his absence came in late April, when the congressman said he was addressing a “personal medical issue.”
“My doctors continue to assure me that my recovery will be complete and that I will be back to the job I love very soon,” the April 27 statement said. “I expect to return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent.”
He gave no details about the issue and comments weeks later from his staff and family members only deepened the mystery around his absence.
“There’s no cameras where Tom is,” his chief of staff told the New York Times, declining to elaborate.
Kean’s father, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean Sr., told NJ.com on May 15 that his son’s illness was “serious” but temporary and that he was under the care of a doctor away from home. He added, “he’ll be out in two or three weeks.”
“It took a real illness to knock him out,” the elder Kean told CNN in another interview on May 15. “This won’t linger. It’s not some kind of disease that’s going to incapacitate him in the future. The consensus is that he will be 100% OK.”
Still, Kean’s social media accounts continued to post in the first person. He also introduced legislation and digitally signed congressional disclosure documents about his stock trades. The electronic signatures were dated March 18, April 13 and May 22.
In a May 21 phone interview with the New Jersey Globe, Kean said his doctors “are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery” and that he understood “the need for public transparency.”
He issued another statement via his campaign on June 2, the day of his primary in which he ran unopposed.
“Right now I am focused on my recovery and under the advice of healthcare professionals, I will transition from virtual work to in person work within a matter of weeks. At that time I will be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition,” Kean said.
When asked how it was acceptable for a member of Congress to be absent for months without giving further explanation, Johnson said “it’s not a scandalous thing at all.”
“I do know what his health issue is but he’s asked me not to disclose that and I’m going to honor that,” Johnson said at a news conference on June 3. “What he’s dealing with is not very common and not a big thing.”
“When he explains it, it will all make sense,” he said.
A week before his return to the Capitol, Kean answered the door at his New Jersey home, wearing a suit and tie, when a New York Times reporter knocked. He declined to give details about his absence.
Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report.
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