Last Thursday, there was a mountain of confusion when it was announced that convicted felon Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) would be resigning. The New Jersey Democrat was convicted on bribery charges, which included payments of gold bars and a luxury car. Menendez denied telling allies he was vacating his office, seemingly setting up a showdown with his colleagues over an expulsion motion. Alas, that’s not going to happen. Menendez intends to resign and leave the Senate by August 20:
Sen. Bob Menendez will resign his Senate seat, effective Aug. 20, his staff were told today, per two sources
— Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) July 23, 2024
Breaking news: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) plans to resign effective Aug. 20, according to two people briefed on the decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. https://t.co/EZZyLDWFJw
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 23, 2024
It was quite the story. Menendez’s initial indictment included details that some found indefensible. The gold bars littering his house proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back with Senate Democrats. Menendez had survived a previous Obama Justice Department trial regarding alleged Medicare fraud. This time, he wasn’t so lucky. Nearly $500,000 in cash was also discovered by federal agents in his home last September, some of which was stuffed into clothing. Superseding indictments also accused Menendez of being an unregistered foreign agent.
Menendez had planned on running for re-election as an independent. He had already resigned as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee per protocol. After his conviction, virtually the entire caucus called on him to resign. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) declared he’d lead the expulsion motion if Menendez didn’t vacate the upper chamber.