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Tom Steyer Appears to Have Proven Conclusively That He’s a Loser

Jun 2, 2026Center Right

For Republicans, the early round of election returns coming off Tuesday’s voting in jungle primaries for governor and mayor of...

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Rep. Tom Kean returns to Congress after four months, citing treatment for depression

NBC News Politics

2 days ago

Rep. Tom Kean returns to Congress after four months, citing treatment for depression

The New Jersey Republican said he had a long-term hospital stay for depression on advice from doctors and feels “healthier” for it today.

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Back in Congress, Tom Kean Jr. Faces a New Challenge: Staying There

NYT > U.S. > Politics

3 days ago

Back in Congress, Tom Kean Jr. Faces a New Challenge: Staying There

The New Jersey Republican has explained the reason for his long absence: depression. Now he must convince voters that he deserves another term.

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Tom Kean, New Jersey Congressman, Says Depression Led to Long Absence

NYT > U.S. > Politics

3 days ago

Tom Kean, New Jersey Congressman, Says Depression Led to Long Absence

After months of mystery, the New Jersey representative broke his silence about the undisclosed health issue that prompted his 117-day absence.

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The Supreme Court came to the wrong conclusion on the 14th Amendment

Blaze Media

3 days ago

The Supreme Court came to the wrong conclusion on the 14th Amendment

Chief Justice John Roberts begins the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship opinion in Westminster in 1608 with Calvin’s Case and the English law of royal subjectship.I would begin in Philadelphia in 1776.English law rested upon allegiance to the Crown. The American Republic would rest upon the consent of a self-governing people.Between those two places — and those two moments — lies the American Revolution. And the Revolution changed more than who governed America. It changed the very foundation of political membership.That is the central problem with the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Barbara. The court’s opinion is learned, careful, and historically rich. Chief Justice Roberts traces the English doctrine of jus soli through Calvin’s Case, Blackstone, a substantial body of antebellum American authorities, and finally United States v. Wong Kim Ark. It may well become the definitive defense of the conventional understanding of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. But it answers the wrong question.The issue is not whether America inherited English legal language. It plainly did. The issue is whether America also inherited England’s understanding of political membership.The majority assumes that the American Revolution left the English understanding of political membership largely intact. The dissents argue that the Revolution rejected that understanding and replaced it with an American conception of citizenship grounded in the consent of the governed. That is the real disagreement in this case.A new creedUnder English common law, nearly everyone born within the king’s dominions became a natural-born subject. Birth within the sovereign’s territory created permanent allegiance to the Crown because the child was born under the king’s protection. That doctrine made sense in a monarchy. It reflected a world of subjects, sovereigns, dominions, and perpetual allegiance.But the United States is not a monarchy.The Declaration of Independence did more than announce separation from Great Britain. It rejected the political philosophy upon which English subjectship rested. Jefferson’s words — that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed” — were not mere rhetorical flourishes. They announced a new theory of political legitimacy. The Declaration’s closing words made the rejection of perpetual allegiance explicit: The new states were “absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown.”English law rested upon allegiance to the Crown. The American Republic would rest upon the consent of a self-governing people.That revolutionary transformation should have been central to the Court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment.Instead, the majority largely assumes that English subjectship and American citizenship belong to the same constitutional lineage. Roberts proves an important proposition: England recognized birthright subjectship. But he does not prove the decisive one: that Americans who had repudiated monarchy intended, less than a century later, to constitutionalize the English law of royal subjectship as the definition of citizenship in a republic.Mere obedience to law is not the same thing as complete political allegiance.Justice Joseph Story helps explain why that distinction matters. Story was steeped in English law, but he was not merely Blackstone with an American accent. His great constitutional project was to explain how inherited English legal concepts had been adapted to the institutions and principles of an American republic. He stands as a bridge between the common-law inheritance and American constitutionalism.That is the bridge missing from the majority’s account. Roberts reads the inherited legal tradition largely as a line of continuity from Calvin’s Case to Wong Kim Ark. But the American constitutional genealogy runs along a different path: the Declaration of Independence, Story’s adaptation of inherited law to republican constitutionalism, Lincoln’s reaffirmation of the Declaration as the nation’s first principle, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the 14th Amendment.Abraham Lincoln understood this better than anyone. He did not treat the Declaration as a mere political manifesto. Lincoln treated it as the nation’s statement of principle. In his famous meditation on the Constitution and the Union, Lincoln described the Declaration’s principle of liberty as the “apple of gold,” with the Constitution as the “picture of silver” framed around it. The frame was made not to conceal or destroy the apple, but to preserve it.That is precisely the point here. The Constitution must be read as law. But it is American law, not English law. And the 14th Amendment must be read as part of the Constitution’s effort to vindicate the principles of the Declaration after the catastrophe of slavery and Dred Scott.Preserving the cornerstoneThe Reconstruction Congress was not attempting to preserve English constitutionalism.

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New Jersey Republican Tom Kean reveals depression diagnosis after returning from lengthy absence

The Hill News

3 days ago

New Jersey Republican Tom Kean reveals depression diagnosis after returning from lengthy absence

Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) said on Tuesday that his lengthy and previously unexplained absence from the House was due to being treated for depression, publicly elaborating on the for the first time on the medical condition that had kept him away from Washington. Kean made the disclosure in a floor speech when he returned to the…

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Rep. Tom Kean returns to Congress, says depression is why he went missing for months

NPR Topics: News

3 days ago

Rep. Tom Kean returns to Congress, says depression is why he went missing for months

The New Jersey Republican was missing for months with no explanation for his constituents. He explained in a House floor speech that after his diagnosis, there was no timeline for recovery.

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GOP Rep. Tom Kean returns to Congress, says he was diagnosed with depression

Politics - CBSNews.com

3 days ago

GOP Rep. Tom Kean returns to Congress, says he was diagnosed with depression

The New Jersey congressman missed more than 140 votes since March 5 as those around him declined to give specifics about his medical issue.

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Rep. Tom Kean discloses depression diagnosis upon return from months-long absence

Axios

3 days ago

Rep. Tom Kean discloses depression diagnosis upon return from months-long absence

Rep. Tom Kean (R-N.J.) on Tuesday said he missed nearly four months of House votes because of "a diagnosis of depression," ending speculation over an absence that became one of the longest by a sitting member of Congress.Why it matters: Kean's disappearance from Congress left New Jersey's 7th District without a voting representative for more than 100 days."Several months ago, due to health concerns, I entered the hospital for some testing. I did not believe that this would result in a long-term stay. I was given the diagnosis of depression," Kean said on the House floor Tuesday morning. Kean said his doctors recommended he remain in the hospital.Tuesday's floor speech marked the New Jersey Republican's first detailed public explanation for his prolonged absence since he last voted on March 5. "This is not an easy speech for me to give, I am a private person by nature...But I believe that I owe an explanation to the people of New Jersey's 7th district, to my colleagues in this chamber, and to the American people for my absence." Driving the news: Kean said in a statement in April that he was dealing with a "personal medical issue," and was expected to "fully recover," but he and his staff have declined to offer details until now.His office offered no timeline for his return until June 18, when it was announced he would return June 30.He missed more than 100 consecutive House votes during his absence."When I said I hope to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it. Those were the best estimates that doctors could provide." Kean said Tuesday.Between the lines: Kean's absence was also consequential for House GOP leaders navigating a razor-thin House majority.Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can only afford to lose a handful a votes on party-line bills.The speaker said earlier this month that he had spoken with Kean by phone, but many rank-and-file Republicans said they had little information about the reason for his prolonged absence.Democrats and some New Jersey constituents also criticized the lack of transparency surrounding Kean's condition and expected return.

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Tom Steyer Appears to Have Proven Conclusively That He’s a Loser

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Tom Steyer Appears to Have Proven Conclusively That He’s a Loser

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