Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez defended his refusal to resign during a closed-door caucus in Washington Thursday. After more than half of Senate Democrats, including fellow New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, urged him to step down, Menendez said, “I will continue to cast votes on behalf of the people of New Jersey as I have for the past 18 years.” Menendez added, “And I’m sure when they need those votes, they’ll be looking for me to cast those votes.”
Democrats hold a razor-thin 51-to-49 margin in the Senate. The death Thursday night of Sen. Dianne Feinstein after a long illness only underscores the problematic political math for Democrats.
“Obviously today’s news of the death of Dianne Feinstein changes the calculation literally, for Democrats,” said Kelly Dittmar, associate professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden. “So now they have to be even more concerned about losing the numbers, if they need to push through anything.”
Dittmar said the tight margins in the Senate may buy Menendez some short-term relief, particularly from Senate colleagues like Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, who not only called for Menendez to step down but said he would also vote to expel his fellow Democrat from the Senate.
“I actually wonder … what this will mean for some of the messaging around Senator Menendez and some of the pressure on him to resign. It wouldn’t be surprising if some of that slows down until we have a replacement for Senator Feinstein,” Dittmar said.
Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio (R-Morris) has dug out a 2008 resolution that would let New Jersey voters amend the state Constitution so that indicted elected officials would be “suspended from office without compensation until the charges are dismissed, the person is acquitted of the charges, or the person is convicted.” DiMaio said Menendez can’t properly serve New Jersey constituents while fighting the charges against him.
Under the resolution, it would be up to the governor to select an interim replacement as U.S. senator. But Gov. Phil Murphy, who called for Menendez to step down just hours after the indictment was unsealed last week, said he won’t comment on pending legislation.
“We are a country where you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Murphy said Friday. “And even in my statement asking Senator Menendez to resign, we made that point, but I won’t speculate on any potential legislation.”
