Democrats in the House and Senate are divided about Sen. Bob Menendez‘s (D-NJ) political future after he and his wife were indicted on Friday on bribery charges.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) became the first senator to call for Menendez’s resignation on Saturday. The first-term Democrat said that while Menendez is “entitled to the presumption of innocence,” he can’t “continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations.”
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“I hope he chooses an honorable exit and focuses on his trial,” Fetterman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following Fetterman’s statement, multiple House Democrats in Menendez’s home state of New Jersey also called for Menendez to resign. Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), a third-term congressman, was one of the first to denounce him, later announcing he’ll run for Senate in 2024 in the wake of the indictment and Menendez’s refusal to step down. New Jersey Democratic Reps. Mikie Sherrill, Bill Pascrell, Frank Pallone, and Josh Gottheimer suggested Menendez should quit.
However, Senate Democrats have been reluctant to say if their colleague should step aside, with a slew of hesitant statements coming out on Sunday.
Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority over Republicans in the chamber, and there have been threatening cases this year that could further narrow that margin. Along with calls for Menendez’s resignation, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a key swing member who is not shy to vote away from the Democrats, has been “thinking seriously” of leaving his party.
Menendez has already been ousted as the head of the Foreign Relations Committee on a temporary status. However, some of his fellow committee members haven’t made a definitive statement on his future in the chamber.
During an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee with Menendez, questioned if the New Jersey senator can “be effective” in his role given the allegations but said he wants “to get back and talk to my colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee before I recommend a path forward.”
Most members agree the charges are heavy but insist Menendez deserves due process. On CNN’s State of the Union, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the charges against him are “equally as serious” as those of former President Donald Trump but “have to be proven under the rule of law,” which is “the responsibility of the government to prove that case.”
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) echoed sentiments from his colleagues, acknowledging the weight of the “serious and shocking” case, but stopped remarks at a resignation call.
“I think Sen. Menendez is going to have to think long and hard about the cloud that’s going to hang over his service in the United States Senate,” Kelly said on CBS News’s Face The Nation.
The New Jersey senior senator was indicted last week for the second time in 10 years, on allegations of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, which included a luxury car and gold bars. His wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, was also part of the indictment. In 2015, Menendez was charged with illegally accepting gifts from a Florida doctor and a large sum of political contributions.
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Menendez has resisted all calls for his resignation, saying he plans to fight the corruption allegations to retain his Senate seat. He is up for reelection next year.
“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty,” Menendez said. “I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades.”
