When Senator Menendez (I-NJ) was initially indicted on bribery charges in 2023, he was D-NJ. The following Senators called for his resignation at or around that time:
- Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
- Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont
- Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio
- Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin
- Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana
- Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania
- Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada
- Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
- Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico
- Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
- Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona
- Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado
- Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
- Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
- Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii
- Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts
- Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire
- Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia
- Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan
- Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont
- Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut
- Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut
- Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois
- Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado
- Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia
- Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan
- Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois
- Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland
- Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington
- Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington
- Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware
At least them, there might have been more. Now that Senator Menendez is a convict, the following have also called for his resignation:
- Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY)
- Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
There may be more on the Democratic side, as I haven’t the time to be obsessive. However, as Steve Benen notes, the Republican side is easier:
In fact, while the list of Senate Democrats calling on Menendez to resign grew — and continues to grow — there was no comparable push among Senate Republicans. GOP senators learned that one of their colleagues had just been convicted on corruption charges, but they made no real effort to show him the door.
Now, I could go on about reasons, maybe they felt a kinship with Senator Menendez, etc, but what caught my eyes is their lose-lose scenario they’ve entered into:
- They’ve claimed to be the law & order party – see Rep Emmer (R-MN) here – but this is no Republican law and order frenzy.
- Perhaps they feel that Menendez did what he was convicted of, which is taking bribes and other abuses of position, but their reaction is So What? That’s what we might expect to see from the Grifting Party.
- Maybe they feel the Democrats have enough rope and will strangle themselves. Unfortunately for them, the Democrats have better leaders and did the right thing – perhaps even prematurely – which should impress observers.
- If the Republicans are worried about insalubrious comparisons between Senator Menendez, Mr Trump, and disparate Republican reactions – does that mean they think anyone outside of the political classes is paying attention? Do they think the average voter will have any knowledge of the Senator’s straits? If so, that’s a surprise.
- Or maybe they just don’t want to tread on Mr Trump’s delicate sensibilities.
I look forward to what may be futile efforts to tie Democrats to the Menendez debacle.
