Succession: Why Congress has no clear plan when lawmakers can’t serve

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have a lot in common. Both have long spells of absences from Capitol Hill due to health. Kean was out for months this winter and spring. But until he returned in June, no one knew exactly what was going on. Neither Kean nor his office or family said a word about why the congressman was AWOL. Upon his return, Kean announced he endured a lengthy hospital stay for depression. McConnell’s absence is similarly crypti