After Indictment, Menendez Is Replaced As Top Dem On Foreign Relations Panel

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., center, leads lawmakers in drafting legislation that would show support for the people of Ukraine and send a get-tough message to Russian Presi... The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., center, leads lawmakers in drafting legislation that would show support for the people of Ukraine and send a get-tough message to Russian President Vladimir Putin for taking over the Crimea region, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Before a planned meeting with acting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, Menendez said Putin has miscalculated by playing a game of Russian roulette with the international community. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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It’s official: New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is stepping aside from his perch as the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee as he battles a federal indictment on corruption and bribery charges.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) will take over the position of ranking member, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) office announced Thursday, one day after the indictment.

The shift could be good news for President Barack Obama’s efforts to strike an agreement with Iran aimed at stopping the country from building a nuclear weapon. Menendez was a leading Democratic skeptic of a potential deal, having partnered with Republicans to sponsor legislation that would restrict the White House’s room to negotiate a deal to lift economic sanctions on Iran without congressional oversight.

The move to replace Menendez as ranking member came on the same day that top U.S. and Iranian negotiators announced that they had achieved a framework for an agreement and hoped to finalize it in the next three months.

The New Jersey Democrat maintained his innocence and vowed to stay in office.

“I’m confident: At the end of the day, I will be vindicated,” he said Wednesday.

As part of the committee shifts, Reid’s office also announced that Sen. Jeanne Shaheen would become ranking member of the Small Business Committee.

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Notable Replies

  1. Not to worry. Sheldon and Bibi have a deep bench.

  2. I have a guess at the next conspiracy theory to come out of conservative Obama Derangement Syndrome. My guess is they’re going to claim the Justice Department is going after Menendez because of his opposition to Obama’s negotiations with Iran and Cuba. I can’t pretend to be broken up about the prospect of losing Menendez, but the notion should be seen as silly on its face. First, the indictment seems pretty substantial. I don’t claim to know if there really is a quid pro quo or just two buddies doing favors for each other, and these buddies happen to be rich in one case and a senator in the other, but it’s clear these aren’t baseless allegations. Second, Menedez’s replacement will be appointed by a Republican governor, so losing Menendez, much as he’s no prize, does mean flipping the seat. So no, it makes no sense that Democrats would seek some bogus grounds to remove him.

  3. They’re already saying that. Hell, there are some people that post on this site that have already been echoing this same sentiment.

  4. He’s a crook. Good riddance.

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