U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
By now, many people know that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, is in big legal trouble, again. This time, the allegations leading to the latest corruption charges against Menendez look bad, including bribery payments to the Senator in cash and gold in return for his interfering with criminal cases and giving illegal special favors, even to the government of Egypt. As a result, there have been widespread calls for Menendez to resign, including from many Democrats. Indeed, about half of Menendez’ Democratic U.S. Senate colleagues, as well as New Jersey County Chairs and others, have now called for him to step down. It’s fair to say that such calls have grown louder and are gaining momentum.
At the same time, it’s true that in America, everyone accused of a crime is deemed under the law to be innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, it is not illegal to keep cash and even gold in one’s home; plenty of people do it. Thus, an argument can be made (and Sen. Menendez is making it forcefully, while pleading not guilty to the charges) that it’s unfair for him to have to resign unless and until he is found guilty of the crimes of which he has been accused. Unfortunately, however, neither the court of public opinion nor the U.S. Senate is a court of law, and there are powerful reasons why Menendez must resign right away.
The main reason for Menendez to step down now is to help his Democratic Party avoid the “whatabout?” distraction from allegations of lawbreaking, corruption and bribery that Democrats (as well as prosecutors) are making against Republicans such as Donald Trump, GOP Congressman George Santos, and U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Such Republican corruption is a great issue for the Democrats for the 2024 elections, but only if Menendez is not around for Republicans, and the media, to kick around and ask, “what about him?”
Furthermore, Menendez, unlike Sen. Dianne Feinstein (who, at age 90, by all accounts, is suffering from both physical and cognitive decline), is not on the Senate Judiciary Committee to cast crucial votes on President Biden’s federal judicial nominations, including Supreme Court nominations, when openings on the courts occur. Currently, the Judiciary Committee has 11 Democrats and 10 Republicans. If Feinstein were to resign, Republicans would block a Democratic replacement on the Committee, causing a 10-10 tie that could prevent further Biden judicial nominations from getting through to a Senate vote. This distinction, fair or unfair, causes many Democrats to want to keep Feinstein around for her votes until her term ends.
Third, if Menendez resigns, his Senate seat remains safely in Democratic hands through the end of his term. Specifically, Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy would get to replace Menendez, and of course, Murphy would choose a fellow Democrat to fill Menendez’ seat. That’s probably a big reason why Murphy himself has called for Menendez to resign. Indeed, the very capable Democratic Congressman Andy Kim (who also served as a State Department diplomat) has already stated that he would run against Menendez in a Democratic primary if the Senator is still there next year, and Kim is one potential pick for Murphy to place in the seat now, if Menendez resigns.
All of these reasons present the harsh political reality pointing to the need for Sen. Menendez to resign right away. While it might not be fair for Menendez to step down before he has his day in court, no one has said politics or the U.S. Senate is fair.
Photo by Senate Democrats, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/00cwAb
