Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) will resign from the Senate, effective Aug. 20, following his felony conviction in a corruption case. The senator had been facing calls from both parties to step down.
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) will appoint his successor, who will serve the rest of the term until after the 2024 election season. Menendez had been running for reelection as an independent.
Menendez was charged on 16 federal counts, including extortion, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, acting as a foreign agent for Egypt, bribery, and conspiracy. He was found guilty on all 16 counts last week after the jury deliberated for more than 12 hours over the course of three days.
Menendez had served in the Senate since 2006, most of the time alongside Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday confirmed the existence of a resignation letter from Menendez in brief remarks made on the chamber floor, but he declined to comment on the matter further. Neither Schumer’s nor Menendez’s offices responded to requests for comment.
Schumer first called for Menendez’s resignation immediately following his conviction. The majority of Senate Democrats prior to the trial had already said Menendez should relinquish his office.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Sen. Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country and resign,” Schumer said at the time.
Menendez remained defiant, saying he was innocent and that he would appeal the outcome.
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“I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country,” he said outside the courthouse in the New York borough of Manhattan. “I have never, ever been a foreign agent. And the decision arrived to by the jury today would put at risk every member of the United States Senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be.”
The Senate Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into Menendez’s actions that could lay the groundwork for censure or expulsion if he remained in office.
