Led by Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, several members of the Senate are demanding the resignation of Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey after a jury in the Southern District of Federal Court in Manhattan found him guilty of 16 counts of corruption, acting as a foreign agent and obstructing justice.
On his X account, Chuck Schumer posted the following: In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do the right thing for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.
New Jersey’s youngest senator, fellow Democrat Corey Booker, joined this call that he first made last fall, and the Senate ethics committee will complete an investigation to consider disciplinary actions, according to Democrat Chris Coons and Republican James Lankford, chairman and vice-chairman. of the committee.
“The probability that two-thirds of the Senate will agree to expel one of its members is difficult. Since the establishment of the Republic, I believe that about 15 Senators have been expelled. It was difficult for the framers of the Constitution because they didn’t want the members to be fired because of overwhelming pressure,” said Thomas Whalen, Professor of Social Sciences at Boston University.
In 1981, Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey, convicted of corruption, resigned before being expelled from the Senate.
“Harvard did a study last year that looked at how different states compared to each other in terms of both legal and criminal corruption cases and found that New Jersey was in the top four states in both cases, out of all the states.” said Derek Arnold, Political Scandals Researcher at Villanova University.
The other legislators who want to remove Menéndez are the governor of New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy, who would be in charge of naming his temporary replacement; Democrat Andy Kim, who is running for that seat in the Senate, as is Republican Curtis Bashaw. Dick Durbin, a senator from Illinois and deputy Senate Democratic majority leader, also spoke out. Ángela González, Voice of America, New York.