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Six Female Democratic Senators Say Franken Should Resign UPDATE: Nine

Christine Rousselle
Christine Rousselle  |  December 06, 2017 11:55 AM

UPDATE (2:55 p.m.): Sen. Angus King (I-ME) issued a statement saying that he believes it is time for his "friend" to resign. While King is an independent, he caucuses with the Democrats. 

UPDATE (1:53 p.m.): A total of 22 Democratic Senators have now called for Franken to resign. 

UPDATE (1:27 p.m.): Matt stepping in here for Christine for a second...Sen. Fienstein has called on Franken to go.

UPDATE (1:02 p.m.): Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says Franken's behavior was wrong and he should resign.

UPDATE (12:59 p.m.): Sen. Amy Klochubar (D-MN) will not call for Franken to resign.

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UPDATE (12:41 p.m.): Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) stopped short of directly saying that Franken should resign, but she told CNN that she believes that Franken should "follow the advice of his Democratic colleagues." 

UPDATE (12:37 p.m.): We're up to nine women now, as Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) has issued a lengthy statement saying that she thinks Franken should leave the Senate.

UPDATE (12:31 p.m.): Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has become the eighth female Democrat to call for Franken's resignation. Stabenow said quitting the Senate would be the "right thing" for him to do.

UPDATE (12:17 p.m.): Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN)  as well as DNC Chairman Tom Perez have both said that Franken should resign. Brown said that "the time has come" for Franken to leave. 

Donnelly said that Franken's conduct was "unacceptable." 

Perez said similar.

UPDATE (12:10 p.m.): Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) is the first male Democrat to join the calls for Franken's resignation.

UPDATE (12:08 p.m.): And then there were seven, as Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has chimed in saying Franken should go.

---Original Post---

In the span of a little over 15 minutes, six female Democratic senators called on their colleague Al Franken (D-MN) to step down from his position. Sens. Kirsten Gilibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Patty Murray (D-WA) all issued statements saying that they believe that members of the Senate should be held to higher standards and that Franken has not met these standards.

Sen. Gilibrand's statement came first, saying that she's spent "a lot of time reflecting" about the wave of sexual assault and harassment allegations. While she thinks that Franken is entitled to the Ethics Committee hearing he requested in the wake of the initial allegation against him, she thinks he should not be in the Senate. She released a longer statement on her official Facebook page.

Shortly after, Hawaii's Sen. Hirono tweeted her own statement saying Franken should "step aside." She said that she's "struggled" with this as Franken is one of her friends, but she believes he has mistreated women in the past. She cited the TIME Magazine's selection of "The Silence Breakers" as part of her rationale for speaking out now against Franken. Hirono said it was important to "create a culture" that respects women as equals to their male counterparts. 

McCaskill was blunter than her colleagues, and tweeted out that Franken should resign.

Sen. Hassan echoed her colleagues and said that it was "clear" Franken has a "pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior towards women," and therefore should leave the Senate.

Sen. Harris said she believed it would be the "best thing" for Franken to leave the Senate.

Sen. Murray said that she was "shocked and appalled" by Franken, and said that it was time for him to "step aside." Murray said that the Senate should "lead by example."

Notably, Franken's fellow Minnesotan Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) has not yet issued a statement. (See 12:59 p.m. update)

This post will be updated if anyone else calls for Franken's resignation.