The 118th Congress has featured several criminal indictments of sitting members for alleged crimes committed before and while serving in office, but for two of the indicted members, their fates have yet to be seen.
Two representatives and one senator have been indicted, with one of the indicted congressmen, former Republican Rep. George Santos, being expelled last year. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) are still in Congress as they face uncertainty with their indictments and political futures.
In recent Congresses, there have been several indictments of members, with nearly all leading to the person facing the charges leaving the chamber — by resignation or losing reelection.
Former Democratic Reps. Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania and Corrine Brown of Florida both lost reelection efforts after their respective indictments.
Fattah had represented Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District before being indicted along with four other associates in 2015 on racketeering and bribery charges, among other alleged crimes. Despite being indicted, he ran for reelection in 2016 but faced challengers in the April Democratic primary. He was defeated by then-state Rep. Dwight Evans, who went on to win the seat in November. The disgraced congressman was convicted in June and resigned shortly thereafter.
Brown represented Florida’s 5th Congressional District before being indicted on fraud charges in July 2016. She lost her primary in a reconfigured district a month later to former state Sen. Al Lawson, who won the district that November. She finished out her term through January 2017 and was convicted later that year.
A trio of Republican representatives who were indicted while serving in Congress faced similar fates, resigning only after being convicted — though two made it through a reelection campaign first.
Former Rep. Chris Collins represented New York’s 27th Congressional District and was indicted on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements to the FBI in August 2018. He narrowly won his reelection campaign that November, but resigned in September 2019 after pleading guilty to insider trading. Collins was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump in 2020.
Former Rep. Duncan Hunter represented California’s 50th Congressional District and was indicted on campaign finance charges in August 2018. He was reelected later that year but pleaded guilty to stealing campaign funds in December 2019. He resigned from Congress in January 2020 and was also pardoned by Trump later that year.
Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry represented Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District and was indicted on three charges in October 2021. He was convicted on one of the charges in March 2022 and resigned from Congress later that month.
The most successful indicted member of Congress in recent history has been Menendez, who was indicted on corruption charges in 2015. His trial ended in a mistrial, and the Justice Department opted to drop the charges in 2018. He easily won reelection in 2018, despite the 2015 charges, and has resisted calls to step down despite being indicted again last year.
Typically a member of Congress will only resign or be expelled after having been convicted of a crime, rather than just indicted. The last member of Congress to be expelled after being found guilty of a crime was Democratic Ohio Rep. James Traficant, who was expelled in 2002 after being convicted on various charges.
In December 2023, a new precedent was set when Santos was expelled from the chamber despite not being convicted of a crime. He has been indicted but the case has yet to go to trial.
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Party leaders in the House and Senate do not seem keen on expelling either Cuellar or Menendez, but should an indictment turn into a conviction, the pressure will likely heat up.
The Texas Democrat has said he will run for reelection to the House, while Menendez has ruled out a run for the Democratic nomination for his Senate seat but left the door open to run as an independent in November.
