Congressman Gets Mixed Response After Explaining Why He Disappeared for Four Months
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle shared mixed responses Tuesday after a Republican congressman said his recent four-month absence was due to treatment for depression.
GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey returned to work and addressed the House floor following months of missed votes without explanation.
“I was given the diagnosis of depression,” Kean said, according to C-SPAN. “It is physical, it is emotional, and until you’ve experienced it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.”
Kean, 57, is running for a third term in a district that just spent months without representation.
He added:
I had responsibilities to my family. I had responsibilities to my constituents. I had responsibilities to this institution. And like many people, I believed that I could simply push through.
But I agreed to follow my doctor’s recommendations — again, not believing that it would result in a long-term stay. I began to understand not only my diagnosis, but how long depression had been affecting my life.
When I first informed the public that I was dealing with a medical issue, I was still trying to understand what was happening myself. When I said I hoped to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it. Those were the best estimates the doctors could provide. But as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover, there is no timeline for healing.
Lawmakers from both parties weighed in on his explanation in comments to Politico that were published on Wednesday.
“Certainly everyone has a right to privacy and to health care and to the mental health care that they need,” said Rep. Maxine Dexter, an Oregon Democrat.
She added that members are obligated to be “transparent and forthcoming.”
Dexter added, “You give up the right to privacy in a certain respect when you run for office and represent that many people.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed the timing of Kean’s disclosure at a news conference on Tuesday.
While he was empathetic, he said more details should have been released sooner.
“If it were me, I would have been more specific about that, and I encouraged him to be,” Johnson said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic socialist, told Politico she wanted Kean and others to feel encouraged to share when they are struggling with mental health issues.
“I think many of us have a tremendous degree of empathy and understanding for a mental health diagnosis,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
The New York Democrat also questioned whether the health of elected officials should be more public.
She added, “There’s a valid discussion here about when it comes to the volume of an absence, what is our responsibility to our constituents in communicating around that?”
Similar discussions were sparked when Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, was hospitalized for depression at Walter Reed three years ago.
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