New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. has been absent from Congress for 75 days, claiming illness, but new records show he has been traveling and trading stocks during that time. He has skipped 88 House votes since March 5, yet FEC pre-primary reports show he has been taking Amtrak and using rideshare apps in San Francisco.
His chief of staff, Dan Scharfenberger, has also been obtaining Kean’s signature for trips funded by special interest groups, according to The New Republic. These include a trip to Las Vegas paid for by the Republican Main Street Partnership and a trip to Middleburg, Virginia, for a “spring issues conference” sponsored by the bipartisan group Center Forward.
The 57-year-old congressman has also been actively trading stocks during his absence, buying and selling shares of Amcor, Chubb Limited, First Citizens BancShares, Johnson & Johnson, and PepsiCo, according to congressional financial records obtained by NOTUS. The combined value of those trades ranges from $50,008 to $190,000.
Kean’s long absence is putting real pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson at a critical moment
Kean told House Speaker Mike Johnson that he had been dealing with an unspecified “personal health matter” and promised to return to work soon. It has now been nearly four weeks since that promise, and his absence is creating a real problem for Johnson, who is trying to push through a partisan budget reconciliation bill that faces total opposition from Democrats.
Johnson can only afford to lose two Republican votes if all Democrats are present and voting against the measure. Kean was elected to represent New Jersey’s 7th congressional district in 2022 and is heading into a competitive reelection cycle.
He currently has no challenger in the Republican primary, set for June 2, but is expected to face strong Democratic opposition in November. His district has also shifted from “lean Republican” to a complete toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report. This is not the first time stock trading has been an issue connected to Kean. In 2022, he defeated then-Rep.
Tom Malinowski, who was dogged throughout his reelection bid by violations of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act related to stock disclosures. When Kean entered Congress in 2023, he positioned himself as an ethics reformer and pledged to move his personal assets into a congressionally approved blind trust. He never followed through, partly blaming the complexity of the process.
Critics noted the contradiction between his public ethics stance and his actual financial conduct in office. Kean’s office told the New Jersey Globe last year that his personal finances are managed by investment professionals and that he does not personally “direct, influence or participate in any stock and investment trading activity whatsoever.”
However, congressional financial records obtained by NOTUS show he has been actively trading stocks since his last vote on March 5. This comes at a time when government transparency is under the microscope, with separate controversies around missing FBI records that could shake federal investigations drawing public attention.
The trades took place between March 10 and March 31, with a combined value ranging from $50,008 to $190,000. Kean personally certified the disclosure by affixing his digital signature to the document on April 13. He also certified a separate disclosure on March 18, covering additional stock and U.S. Treasury note trades made in February. The fact that Kean personally signed off on these disclosures makes it harder to argue that he had no involvement in the trading activity during his absence. Meanwhile, other Republican figures are also facing scrutiny over time spent away from official duties.
Published: May 26, 2026 11:15 am