Schumer confirms Menendez will step down from committee chairmanship after indictment

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed Friday that Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) will be stepping down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Senator Menendez has rightly decided to step down temporarily from his position as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee until the matter has been resolved,” Schumer said in a statement released Friday afternoon.

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Menendez and his wife were accused of taking bribes of gold bars, cash, and a luxury car in exchange for aiding the government of Egypt and businessmen in New Jersey on Friday in a new indictment.

Previously, Menendez stepped down from his perch on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2015, when he was facing a different indictment. Schumer defended Menendez in the wake of the latest indictment on Friday, emphasizing he should be treated with the presumption of innocence.

“Bob Menendez has been a dedicated public servant and is always fighting hard for the people of New Jersey,” he said. “He has a right to due process and a fair trial.”

The indictment accuses Menendez of using his power and influence in the Senate over a yearslong relationship and accuses the senator and his wife of engaging in “a corrupt relationship with three New Jersey associates and businessmen.”

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In response to the charges, Menendez said the indictment was part of a political smear campaign of “anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists.”

A recent Monmouth University poll found the senator is now less popular than he was during the 2015 ordeal. Unlike that incident, Menendez is unlikely to have the case resolved before the 2024 elections if he were to run for reelection next November.