Rep. Tom Kean Jr., whose two-and-a-half month disappearance has stoked speculation about his health and political future, has begun more actively communicating over the phone.

On Thursday, Kean began calling Republican county chairs in his 7th Congressional District, one of the most competitive in the country in this year’s midterms. The two-term Republican also gave a “lengthy” interview to New Jersey Globe on Thursday afternoon, the first he has granted since he last voted on March 5.

Kean did not respond to a text message from Blue Light News and his voicemail was full Thursday night.

But Kean, 57, gave no details to the Globe on his undisclosed illness, which has kept him out of public view since early March. He said he’s expecting to make a full recovery, that it would not affect his cognitive health, that he plans to run for reelection and that he will publicly discuss his health at an unspecified later date.

“My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery,” Kean told New Jersey Globe. “I understand the need for public transparency, and I appreciate the support of my constituents.”

Kean added that he plans to return to voting and campaigning in the next couple weeks. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm, told reporters Thursday he spoke to Kean and he will be back voting in June.

Kean’s lengthy absence has drawn national media attention, with reporters staking out his home in the wealthy 7th Congressional District, where he faces an extremely competitive reelection, with four Democrats competing in the June 2 primary to take him on in November. His campaign and office staff had repeatedly said that he expects to make a full recovery and would return to work “soon.”

But few people — even Kean’s two fellow New Jersey House Republicans — had recently reported speaking to him. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he spoke to Kean last month.

Kean called Republican chairs in his district on Thursday.

“He sounded good to me. Sounded just as normal as always,” said Carlos Santos, the Republican chair of Union County, where Kean lives.

Santos said that he did not ask Kean about his ailment, and that Kean did not disclose it. But he said Kean confirmed he’s running for reelection and that he has his support.

Tracy DiFrancesco, the GOP chair of Somerset County, also spoke with Kean.

“It was just a simple conversation. He sounded just like Tom always sounds. He sounded perfectly fine. He’s basically back. Hopefully we’re going to see him very soon,” she said. “I think he’s doing well and we’re excited to get back on his campaign.”

The House rejected legislation Thursday to advance construction of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum after a partisan battle broke out in recent days over the long-sought building.

Lawmakers voted 216-204 to reject the legislation led by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.). Six Republican hard-liners joined all Democrats in opposition.

While 127 Democrats cosponsored an earlier version of the bill, most of them bailed after Republicans altered it ahead of the floor vote.

New language added in the House Administration Committee last month dedicated the museum to “preserving, researching, and presenting the history, achievements, and lived experiences of biological women in the United States” and prohibited the institution from seeking to “identify, present, describe, or otherwise depict any biological male as a female.”

Other new provisions called for “an equal representation of the diversity of the political viewpoints and authentic experiences held by women in the United States” and gave President Donald Trump the unilateral power to relocate the museum from sites already identified on the National Mall.

The Democratic Women’s Caucus announced earlier this week it would oppose the altered bill after working on it with Republicans for years.

“They amended the bill to give Trump and his allies unregulated power over what content and which women can be included in the museum, and the museum’s location,” Democratic Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández (N.M.), Hillary Scholten (Mich.) and Emilia Sykes (Ohio) said in a statement. “A museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man.”

Republicans also dealt with their own internal fights over the legislation this week. Several GOP lawmakers raised concerns in House Republicans’ closed door meeting Wednesday morning about why the museum was needed.

They also argued it would further divide Americans into groups when there are already women represented across the wider collection of Smithsonian museums, according to five people in the room granted anonymity to describe the private discussion.

Senate GOP leaders have canceled plans to vote this week on a party-line immigration enforcement bill, a major setback as lawmakers contend with President Donald Trump’s personal political agenda.

Several Republican senators said action on the legislation would wait until after a weeklong Memorial Day recess — guaranteeing that Congress would blow a Trump-set June 1 deadline for the immigration funding.

The decision appeared to be driven by fierce internal divides over politically sensitive issues not related to the core purpose of the bill — pumping tens of billions of dollars into Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies.

It came after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche struggled Thursday to quash GOP concerns over a newly announced $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Leaders had already concluded they would have to omit a $1 billion Secret Service funding line item that could have gone toward Trump’s White House ballroom due to internal dissension.

Blanche met privately with Senate Republicans as the administration and GOP leaders tried to defuse the controversy over the fund.

GOP leaders believed they had enough members who would support a proposal targeting the fund that it would ultimately be added into the filibuster-skirting bill, as Blue Light News first reported Wednesday.

Asked if the briefing changed her mind, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a critic of the fund, told reporters, “No.”

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — who have also been critical of the fund — declined to comment. But two people granted anonymity to describe the meeting said the meeting did not go well for the administration and that Blanche was not persuasive.

Money for the fund isn’t included in the GOP’s immigration enforcement bill. But because the bill involves Justice Department funding and the Senate Judiciary Committee is involved in the bill, senators have a path to add language related to the fund into the bill with only 51 votes. Republicans did discuss possible guardrails they could put on the fund during the meeting.

Republicans have not yet finalized the bill they plan to put on the Senate floor, raising the possibility that the chamber could punt action until after a weeklong Memorial Day recess. Senate leaders could have attendance issues if they try to keep members in town past Friday afternoon.

Asked if they could still vote on the bill this week, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) told reporters, “That’s being discussed.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters after leaving the meeting that leaders would likely decide “within the next hour or so” about whether to send members home and reconvene after the recess.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to comment on the fund or on the ability to pass a bill this week as he left the meeting.