The Dictatorship
Reps. Frederica Wilson and Thomas Kean are missing in action. Voters deserve answers.
When Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., announced her plan to seek re-election earlier this year, she didn’t break the news at a flashy campaign rally or even in a social media video. Instead, the 83-year-old congresswoman informed allies in a series of private phone calls.
Wilson’s constituents would have likely appreciated the chance to see their elected representative, who has been absent from Capitol Hill for a month after apparently undergoing an eye surgery. But Wilson is not the only conspicuously absent lawmaker. Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., R-N.J., has not appeared in Congress — or anywhere elseapparently — since March 5. Kean’s own GOP colleagues said they have not been able to get in touch with him.
On April 22, Kean consultant Harrison Neely told Blue Light News that the congressman would be “back on a regular full schedule very soon.” Nearly a month later, Kean still has not shown his face in his district or on Capitol Hill. Asked on Tuesday when (or if) Kean has plans to return to his job, Neely again assured New Jerseyans that “there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
The story of the House’s two missing members is eerily similar to that of 83-year-old former Rep. Kay Granger, who disappeared from Congress for five months in 2024.
If that’s true, why can’t Kean say it himself?
The story of the House’s two missing members is eerily similar to that of 83-year-old former Rep. Kay Granger, who disappeared from Congress for five months in 2024 only to be found living at a memory clinic in her district. Granger’s son confirmed the Texas Republican had been suffering from “dementia issues” and simply stopped showing up for work without informing her constituents.
With Granger absent, her district staff locked the office door and stopped answering the phones. Constituent service requests piled up. Tarrant County Republican Party Chair Bo French accused Granger of “disenfranchis[ing] 2 million people” with her disappearing act. Wilson and Kean’s failure of transparency has done their own constituents the same grave disservice.
This kind of government dysfunction hits especially hard at a time when 84% of Americans say democracy is “in crisis or facing serious challenges,” according to research by the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Surveys by Navigator Research have consistently found supermajorities of voters in both parties believe their elected officials are out of touch and don’t care about them. That cynicism about American democracy only worsens when members of Congress behave as if they are above talking to the people they serve.
Wilson and Kean can’t be blamed for battling health issues, but their staggering lack of transparency with voters raises a serious question about what voters should do when they find themselves lacking a representative in Congress. Both lawmakers have missed dozens of critical House votes without the slightest explanation to their constituents as to when they will come back to work.
That’s a slap in the face to voters who would be fired from their private sector jobs for daring to disappear without notice. It’s also a rallying cry for Democrats seeking to harness voters’ growing discontent with do-nothing lawmakers ahead of key primaries, such as New Jersey’s upcoming June 2 contest.
“If you were missing work, you would tell your boss, and Tom Kean Jr.’s boss is the people. He did not tell us. That’s it,” said Michael Rothone of the Democrats running to replace Kean this November. “It is time that we get a member of Congress who will show up.”
Wilson and Kean certainly have a right to privacy, but they also have a duty as public servants to represent their voters. At minimum, they owe the people of Florida and New Jersey a good reason for cutting them off completely. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he spoke with Kean last monthbut Kean’s constituents may not be so lucky: When I reached out to Kean’s district office on Friday, the call went to voicemail.
We should be more concerned than ever that our system of government actually lives up to its promise of equal representation under law.
Congressional offices can function even without the members present on a day-to-day basis. It’s true that staffers manage almost all constituent casework, from helping voters connect with federal agencies to processing passports to helping veterans secure medical care. But those staffers can’t vote in place of their missing member, and on a more fundamental level, those unelected staffers are not the person voters elected to be their advocate in Congress.
As America celebrates its 250th birthday, we should be more concerned than ever that our system of government actually lives up to its promise of equal representation under law. An absent and unreachable lawmaker is ultimately an injustice against constituents who are denied the full equality of their voice in government. The people of Florida and New Jersey are entitled to better than that.
If Wilson and Kean are unwilling or unable to return to work, the only ethical decision is to resign and make way for someone with the capacity to serve. Their continued absences only undermine a system already struggling with a crisis of voter faith. This is probably not how Wilson or Kean saw their time in Congress ending, but it is a necessary reminder that the most important part of public service is having the humility and self-awareness to put the needs of your constituents first — even if that means saying goodbye.
Max Burns is a Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies. Find him on X, @themaxburns.
Over the course of June, Donald Trump spent nearly every day focusing attention on assorted construction and beautification projects, emphasizing the unavoidable conclusion that the president takes his renovation crusade very seriously.
His allies aren’t necessarily pleased. The Hill recently reported that Republican officials, worried about the midterm elections and maintaining partisan control, have been “thrown off-balance” by, among other things, Trump’s focus on “pet projects” instead of more meaningful national priorities.
The list of projects keeps growing nevertheless. It includes (but is by no means limited to) the ballroomthe Reflecting Poolthe “triumphal arch,” the fountainsthe horse statuesthe “Trump Promenade,” the “statue garden” and the dozen or so additional renovation projects he’s prioritized in and around the White House complex.
But let’s also not forget the helipad.
A couple of months ago, The Washington PostThe Wall Street Journal and The New York Times separately published similar reports about Trump hoping to build a permanent helicopter landing site on the White House grounds. Evidently, those plans have now advanced to the construction stage. The Post reported this week:
President Donald Trump has begun construction on a new White House helipad, his latest change to the historic grounds, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the project publicly.
Construction crews worked into the night Monday on the White House’s South Lawn, with the project blocked off by a large fence.
The report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added that the project hasn’t yet been formally announced by the White House, even as construction is apparently underway.
It’s not yet clear how much the project will cost, who will pick the tab and whether this has joined the growing list of no-bid contracts.
Unlike some of the president’s other priorities, there is a legitimate issue here — the latest generation of helicopters really do damage the White House lawn — although this doesn’t answer the other lingering questions or explain why Team Trump hasn’t acknowledged the existence of the project.
What’s more, this almost certainly won’t be the last of the Republican’s projects.
Earlier this week, the president used his social media platform to promote an artificial intelligence-generated image of a gold eagle affixed to the White House exterior. Trump added in his online image, “A Golden Gift to the White House for its 250th Birthday Year!”
The text (which erroneously said the White House is celebrating its semiquincentennial) suggested the president intends to add this gaudy addition to his ambitious renovation agenda.
Recent polling has found two-thirds of Americans are convinced their unpopular president simply has the wrong priorities. Trump could take steps to change their mind, but he apparently doesn’t want to.
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
The Dictatorship
Hegseth blasts protesters at ceremony for D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force: ‘Ingrates’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday derided protesters at an event in Washington, D.C., tied to the America 250 celebrationscalling the demonstrators “ingrates” who are “blinded by ideology.”
The D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force event in Meridian Hill Park was set to begin at 9 a.m. ET but did not start until roughly 30 minutes later, as members of the National Guard waited for Hegseth’s arrival amid a brutal heat wave. Protesters shouted during his brief address, in which he said he was to blame for the delay and praised the troops for their service.
“In fact, this background noise this morning is perfect,” Hegseth said about the protesters, with White House adviser Stephen Miller and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche standing behind him.
“It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them,” Hegseth said. “That there’s nothing ideological about this group, there’s nothing political about this exercise.”
Some protesters could be heard shouting “Shame!” and “Guard, go home!”
Pete Hegseth: “This background noise is perfect. It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them.” pic.twitter.com/aWt5ciuRG3
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)”https://x.com/atrupar/status/2072679604184109222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 2, 2026
National Guard troops have been deployed to assist with America 250 celebrations in the capital, though some Democratic governors have warned against their guard members being utilized for a larger federal joint task force to tackle what the Trump administration has called“rampant crime” in Washington.
Many Washington residents are not thrilled with the National Guard’s presence. The controversial America 250 festivities have also sparked criticism from Democrats who accuse President Donald Trump of putting himself at the center of the celebrations.
At the Thursday ceremony, Hegseth suggested the protesters were not from Washington.
“These ingrates will fade away; they’ll go back to wherever they came from,” he said, before asserting that National Guard troops have brought the crime rate down in the capital — a claim that at least one study has found to be inaccurate.
“The crime rate here has dropped in staggering amounts, and the media won’t want to admit it because, of course, they’d have to give credit to President Trump, and then they’d have to give credit to the Department of War or to Stephen Miller,” Hegseth said. “But courageous men like President Trump and Stephen, who said enough is enough, are the reason why this city is a safe and beautiful place.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
Stephanie Ruhle said she was left “almost speechless” after the release of Donald Trump’s new financial disclosureswhich reported he raked in more than $2 billion since returning to the White House. “Man, it looks good to be president,” the “Money, Power, Politics” host said Wednesday.
According to the 927-page document released Tuesday, Trump’s income has only increased since retaking the White House. The president reported almost $575 million in real estate and golf-related income and another $68.6 million in royalties and licensing fees.
But, as Ruhle pointed out, $1.4 billion of Trump’s 2025 total comes directly from one industry: crypto.
Despite having called that industry a “scam” and a “disaster waiting to happen” in 2021, Trump has in recent years appeared to have a change of heart about digital currency.
“That was just five years ago, but now he is a major crypto industry operator and essentially its top policy maker,” the MS NOW host said. “Remember, he is the one who appointed regulators that changed the rules to hugely benefit the crypto industry, and since he came back to office, he has either completely dropped or settled a whole lot of cases with crypto companies.”
As Trump rakes in more cash, Ruhle said the American people are not experiencing the same kind of prosperity, in part because of the administration’s policies. “[They] are suffering, whether it’s because of tariffs, whether it’s because of inflation, whether it’s because of increased costs, because of the war in Iran,” she said.
While Ruhle noted the president has said he does not choose his investments and has said they are in a “blind account,” she said the American people should not ignore how much Trump has profited since returning to the White House.
“Here’s what you need to know: All of this would be a major conflict of interest — a huge scandal — if it were any other presidency,” she argued.
You can watch Ruhle’s full breakdown in the clip below.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”
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- Stephanie Ruhle breaks down what to know about Trump’s financial disclosures
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