The senator is accused of being an agent of Egypt.
“How can you oust (former Rep. George) Santos, R-N. Y. , and take no action for a genuine sleazy guy like Menendez?” asked Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.
SENATE LEADERS ARE SILENT ON THE SENATOR’S POSSIBLE EXPULSION. MENENDEZ AFTER REP. SAINTS overthrown
A test photograph shows Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N. J. , Nadine Menendez and the official assembly of the Egyptian Five at a dinner at the official’s home. (U. S. District Court)
The Pennsylvania Democrat noted that a federal court just cleared Menendez on corruption charges a few years ago.
“This is the ball dance time,” Fetterman said. “He has to have the strength or be able to get his way. “
Fetterman is new to the Senate, so he’s still learning the ways of the upper chamber.
“You have to be trying really hard to get expelled in the Senate,” opined Fetterman.
For decades, there was an unofficial popular definition of what it took for the House and Senate to expel a lawmaker. He had to be a convict or a confederate. The House and Senate expelled a slate of Confederates in the 1860s. The House then expelled former Rep. Ozzie Myers, D-Pa. , in 1980, and Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, in 2002. Both They were convicted in federal court.
The one anomaly for expulsion was late Tennessee Sen. William Blount in 1797. The Senate booted Blount over treason for trying to help the British.
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However, everyone else is either Confederate or doomed.
That is, until we get to George Santos.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. , said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N. J. , will be expelled from the U. S. Senate. (Bill Clark)
Santos has been accused of defrauding his own crusade and faces a litany of federal charges. A report by the House Ethics Committee found that the former congressman defrauded donors’ money and used that money to buy luxury pieces at Hermès and get Botox treatments.
Santos will go on trial in February. Menendez is scheduled to stand trial in May.
Both Santos and Menéndez have parallel legal status, however, one remains in force and disappears.
But is there a new precedent on Capitol Hill after Santos’ ouster?
House Democrats were ready to pounce had Republicans failed to expel Santos last week. A failure to expel Santos from the House would have been a gift to Democrats. The party could point to the refusal of Republicans to expel Santos as an example of what was wrong with the House majority heading into 2024. That is on top of general chaos which saturated the House all year long. A five-day speaker election in January. The removal of the speaker in October. A three-week struggle to tap a new speaker — incinerating three candidates along the way. A dance with the debt ceiling. Two flirtations with government shutdowns. And then there were various scuffles over failed spending bills and other initiatives.
However, Santos’ ouster may provide Senate Republicans with an opportunity to criticize Democrats over Menendez. Republicans can use that technique to target vulnerable lawmakers facing difficult re-elections this year in red or purple states. Consider Senators Bob Casey, a Democrat. Pennsylvania, Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. , Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio and Jon Tester, D-Mo.
The double popularity between Santos and Menendez is evident. But for now, Republicans aren’t taking advantage of this opportunity.
Rep. George Santos was expelled from his seat in the House of Representatives in November. (J. Scott Applewhite)
“This is an internal majority issue,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. , responded when asked about Menendez. “It’s clear that it has external problems. I’ll leave it to the majority leader how to address them. “
McConnell also noted that he was “happy” that Menendez is “not a Republican. “
Yours truly asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., if the Ethics Committee should probe Menendez the same way the House Ethics panel investigated Santos and if senators should kick him out.
Schumer dodged it.
“The Senate has criteria of proper habit and Sen. Menendez’s habit falls far short of those criteria,” Schumer responded, before moving on to the question.
CNN’s Manu Raju asked Schumer if it was “appropriate” for Menendez to attend a classified briefing on Ukraine, given that he is tasked with operating on behalf of the Egyptians. At the time, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was scheduled to deal with senators at the briefing via a secure video conference line.
“He has the right to do that as a senator,” Schumer said of Menendez. “You’ll have to ask him. “
As in the House, it also takes two-thirds to expel a senator. It’s unclear whether the Senate will ever get over that hurdle with Menendez. The Senate hasn’t expelled anyone since 1862, even though it flirted with a potential candidate. expulsion of Sen. Harrison Williams, D-N. J. , in the 1980s. The same was true for former Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore. , in the 1990s.
It is about the “math” if the Senate were to expel Menendez. However, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., has a theory about Democratic inaction regarding the New Jersey Democrat.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said that “the Senate has standards as to proper behavior and Sen. Menendez’s behavior has fallen way below that.” (Kevin Dietsch)
“Democrats don’t do that to their men. They’re protecting their limbs,” Donalds charged. “Second, they have a narrow majority in the Senate. And Chuck Schumer is going to resign because of impeachment. That’s why there is no solution in the Senate. Let’s call it that. “
The distribution of the Senate is lately of senators meeting with Democrats and 49 Republicans. Thus, even if the Senate were to oust Menendez, Democrats would hold on to a 50-49 majority, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, would still nominate a Democrat. to the Senate.
FETTERMAN DEMANDS THE SENATOR. MENENDEZ TO BE EXPELLED FROM SENATE FOR ‘SEEING’: ‘SENATOR FOR EGYPT, NOT NEW JERSEY’
Maybe his wife? Tammy Murphy is running for Menendez’s seat in the Democratic primary.
The Senate would have a 50-50 ratio if Democrats lose the New Jersey seat. However, based on the agreements to function as “tied senates” in 2001-2002 and 2021-2002, Democrats will most likely retain control by voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, who serves as president of the Senate.
Schumer was not the only Democrat who did not need to weigh in on whether Menendez faces the same field as Santos.
“I’m not a senator. I don’t know any of the rules,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N. J. , said when asked.
However, the “rules” are the same for the House and Senate. Article I, Section Five of the Constitution states that either body could expel a member, unconditionally. The Constitution says nothing about reason or justification.
It all comes down to a question of political will.
After much consternation, the House elected to establish a new precedent and expel Santos. The House voted to block two previous efforts to expel Santos, but the ground shifted after the House Ethics Committee produced a scathing report on Santos.
Democratic U. S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey arrives at the federal courthouse in New York City on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 (Seth Wenig).
The Senate Ethics Committee has not even entertained the possibility of an inquiry into Menendez. Ironically, the Senate pondered expelling Bob Packwood back in the 1990s over sexual harassment — even though he never faced criminal charges.
Ironically, the most sensible Republican on the ethics committee at the time was Mitch McConnell. At the time, McConnell said Packwood had a “habitual tendency for competitive and atrocious sexual innuendo. “The ethics committee expelled Packwood, but Packwood eventually resigned.
The votes to expel Menendez will be there.
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However, in this case, it’s not just about math.
It is a question of political will.
Chad Pergram is currently Senior Congressional Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based in Washington, D. C.