Rep. Tom Kean Jr. appears to have taken at least two official actions during his weekslong and largely unexplained absence from Congress — both to the benefit of his staff, according to U.S. House records reviewed by NOTUS.
Despite not casting a vote since early March, the New Jersey Republican signed a pair of congressional “gift travel” disclosures affirming that his chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, was authorized to take trips paid for by special interest groups.
The first disclosure, which Kean signed on March 14, stated that Scharfenberger’s trip to an event in Las Vegas funded by the Republican Main Street Partnership “was in connection with the employee’s official duties and would not create the appearance that the employee is using public office for private gain.”
On April 13, Kean signed the second disclosure, which involved a trip by Scharfenberger to Middleburg, Virginia, for a “spring issues conference” sponsored by bipartisan policy organization Center Forward.
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Kean’s congressional office acknowledged NOTUS’ request for comment, but neither Scharfenberger or other staffers otherwise returned phone and email messages Thursday. Among the questions NOTUS asked: whether Kean had hand-signed the documents or whether someone else signed or affixed Kean’s signature on his behalf.
Scharfenberger has publicly praised Kean during his absence in ways that suggest Kean is not actually absent at all.
“It takes an exceptionally effective Member of Congress to deliver at this level& he keeps setting the bar higher,” Scharfenberger posted on X on May 20, responding to a post purportedly written by the congressman — in first-person — about community project funding.
Kean broke weeks of public silence on Thursday in an interview with the New Jersey Globe. The Globe reported that it had spoken by phone with Kean, who said: “My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery. I understand the need for public transparency, and I appreciate the support of my constituents.”
Kean also indicated that he is seeking reelection this year.
His campaign showed some sign of life Thursday night. Kean’s congressional committee reported in a Federal Election Commission filing that it had almost $3.4 million in reserve as of mid-May.
The report indicated that the Kean campaign made several expenditures on Amtrak, Lyft and Uber for “candidate travel” in mid-April, when Kean was missing from Congress.
Signatures on documents have been a fixation of President Donald Trump, who derided Joe Biden’s use of an “autopen” document signing tool and deemed illegitimate anything that the former president hasn’t “directly signed.” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer described the “Biden Autopen Presidency” as “one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history.”
The disclosures are not the first time Kean has appeared to take an official action during his disappearance, which Kean, in an April 27 statement, attributed to a “personal medical issue.”
In April, NOTUS reported that Kean signed and certified a House disclosure document indicating he bought and sold shares of eight different stocks between March 10 and March 31, including those of Amcor, Chubb Limited, First Citizens BancShares, Johnson & Johnson and PepsiCo.
The combined value of those trades were $50,008 to $190,000. (Federal lawmakers are only required to disclose the value of their trades in broad ranges.)
Kean has missed more than 90 House roll call votes since March 5. Rhonda Kean, the congressman’s wife, declined to comment on her husband’s status when met by a NOTUS reporter outside the couple’s home in New Jersey this week.
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