After a jury convicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) of 16 charges in a nine-week corruption trial, the senator and his New Jersey congressional colleagues called on him to resign.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, was one of the first lawmakers to react to the ruling on Tuesday, calling on his fellow Democrats to resign.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must do the right thing for his constituents, the Senate and our country and resign,” he said in a statement.
A smaller group suggested Menendez might need to be expelled if he doesn’t comply with his colleagues’ requests.
Schumer calls for Democrat Menendez to resign following conviction
Senator Phil Murphy (New Jersey Governor), in calling for Mr. McConnell to resign, said the Senate “should vote to expel him” if he doesn’t.
Sen. Bob Menendez is facing calls to resign, and if he doesn’t, the Senate could consider expelling him, a process that’s not easy. (Getty Images)
In US history, the Senate has only ever expelled 15 members — in fact, the last time was Indiana Democratic Senator Jesse Bright in 1862.
For this reason, many lawmakers are calling for Menendez to resign rather than be expelled.
Why? Because it’s not easy.
The process is as follows:
Senators could also draft a resolution to expel Menendez, which the Constitution requires requires a two-thirds majority, but it would not be taken up immediately.
Even if someone does propose a solution, it’s likely to be referred to the Ethics Committee immediately, and things could stall for a while while the Ethics Committee investigates.
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Schumer called for Menendez to resign. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
But Menendez has already been convicted, so the ethics committee only needs to quickly submit a “report” on Menendez’s conduct and introduce legislation to Congress.
If the expulsion resolution gets stuck in committee, a senator could try to dislodge it through a “motion to expel,” which is more complicated, but might work in this case.
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Menendez plans to appeal the sentence. (AP Photo/Gina Moon/File)
Either way, the Senate must vote to “advance” the expulsion resolution, which requires a simple majority. There is no filibuster or filibuster to begin with.
The Senate can then debate the expulsion issue for as long as necessary.
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United States Capitol (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call)
But if called upon, the Senate may need to block a filibuster, so the Senate may need to move to “cloture” to block a filibuster on Menendez’s ouster, which would require 60 votes in favor.
If the Senate breaks the filibuster, it can vote on the expulsion resolution itself, which requires a two-thirds majority.
Senator Bob Packwood resigned rather than face expulsion for sexual misconduct. (Getty Images)
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It is worth noting that the late Sen. Harrison Williams (R-Denali) and former Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Oregon) faced possible expulsion votes, but both resigned before the Senate could muster the votes.
It’s also possible that someone could prepare an expulsion resolution and try to bypass the Ethics Committee and put it on the table immediately, but that would require approval by all 100 senators, and Menendez is still a senator, so there’s a good chance he or others could oppose or try to block it.
