One day in 2018, Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer told Sen. Al Franken to resign by 5 p.m., or else he would strip Franken of his committee assignments and instruct all Senate Democrats to demand his resignation. Schumer’s own spokesperson confirmed this account in a 2019 remark to The New Yorker.
Six years later, Schumer refuses to call for the resignation of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J… and one reporter stumped him when asked why.
On Thursday, a reporter asked Schumer, “Why haven’t you called — or moved — to expel Sen. Menendez, considering how abhorrent you think his conduct is?”
Schumer quickly punted. “As I’ve said, the Senate has certain standards, and Menendez fell way below it. We’re deeply disappointed in him,” he said.
The reporter hit back, “Why not remove him?”
A stunned Schumer quickly moved to a question from a different reporter.
Take a look —
REPORTER: "Why haven't you called or moved to expel Senator Menendez?"
CHUCK SCHUMER: "We're deeply disappointed in him." pic.twitter.com/n3vEDPpwD6
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2024
More than half of the Senate’s 51 Democrats have called for Menendez to resign, and some have even called for their colleagues to expel him.
“It is time for every one of my colleagues in the Senate to join me in expelling Senator Menendez,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., said in a statement last year. “We cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate… This is not a close call.”
Granted, the Senate would need 67 out of 100 votes in order to expel Menendez. As of Thursday, no Senate Republicans have called for Menendez’s resignation, much less his expulsion.
Still, Schumer threatened to instruct all Senate Democrats to call for Franken’s resignation. He could easily do the same thing for Menendez — but refuses.
Menendez has been charged by the Biden Justice Department of serving as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Egypt’s administration, and he’s heading to trial later this year on charges of bribery. He denies all wrongdoing.
The New Jersey Democrat hasn’t announced whether he’s running for re-election this year. However, Menendez looks likely to be toast. To secure a place on the Democrats’ primary ballot, he would need to collect a total of 1,000 signatures by Tuesday, March 25.
Still, two insiders told NBC News last week that Menendez is considering running as an independent. That way, he could still use a campaign to crowdfund his legal bills, and he could wait until June 4 to gather his signatures.
Menendez is set to begin his trial on May 5.
The Horn editorial team