Why Bob Menendez Is Still In The Senate

George Santos isn’t in Congress but Bob Menendez still is. Senators say expulsion isn’t on their minds.

Sen. Bob Menendez
Democratic senators say they haven’t been following developments in the criminal case against Bob Menendez and didn’t listen to the defiant speech in which he defended himself. Andres Kudacki/AP

When the House swiftly expelled George Santos — facing nearly two dozen federal charges and a scathing ethics report — 105 of his fellow Republicans joined almost every Democrat to vote in favor of kicking out the first-term representative.

On the other side of the Capitol, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez is facing his own set of federal charges, including for bribery and acting as a foreign agent. But unlike the House, there’s no momentum to expel him, and his Senate colleagues are mostly steering clear of the mess.

In interviews with 19 senators last week, Democrats were reluctant to discuss the charges, said they hadn’t been following the case’s developments, and told NOTUS they didn’t listen to Menendez’s defiant Senate floor speech defending himself. (Menendez says he is innocent of any wrongdoing).