BREAKING: Dem senator Bob Menendez announces resignation date

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UPDATE 3:15pm ET: The Senate has now received Menendez’s resignation letter, to be effective August 20.

From the New York Times: Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey told members of his staff on Tuesday that he planned to resign from Congress in late August, bowing to intense pressure from Democratic colleagues who had pushed him to step down or face an expulsion vote after his federal bribery conviction.

Mr. Menendez’s decision to quit months before the end of his third term will likely allow Democrats to avoid a potentially ugly intraparty fight at a highly fraught political moment. New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Philip D. Murphy, is expected to appoint a replacement who would serve until January.

Mr. Menendez, 70, has insisted that he is innocent and vowed to appeal the guilty verdict. But his resignation almost certainly represents the final collapse of a five-decade political career that saw him rise from mayor of his hometown, Union City, N.J., to one of the most powerful foreign policy voices in Washington as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The New Jersey Globe first released the breaking news, and announced that his resignation will be effective August 20.

“Three sources with knowledge of his plans said that a letter of resignation could come as early as today,” the Globe wrote.

The Globe also listed potential replacements:

Gov. Phil Murphy must appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of Menendez’s term, which ends on January 3, 2025. He has said he would appoint a caretaker. Possible candidates include First Lady Tammy Murphy, Lt. Governor Tahesha Way, former Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, and U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas; there are likely to be others on the list as well.

 

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