White House declines to call for Menendez to resign

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to take a clear stance today on whether indicted Senator Bob Menendez should resign, saying that it’s a decision that must ultimately reside with the senator and with Senate Democratic leaders.

“We see this as a serious matter,” Jean-Pierre said in response to a question from CNN’s MJ Lee. “We believe the senator stepping down from his [Senate Foreign Relations Committee] chairmanship was the right thing to do. As it relates to anything else, any decision that he has to make, that’s certainly going to be up to him and the Senate leadership to decide.”

Jean-Pierre, the top spokesperson for the Biden administration, had previously been asked a similar question on Friday, immediately after the charges had been made public; she declined to comment at the time.

At an event in Union City earlier today, Menendez defiantly said that the bribery charges against him have no merit and that he has no intention of resigning. That’s despite a wide range of figures in New Jersey Democratic politics – including Gov. Phil Murphy, 13 county Democratic Party chairs, and six members of the House – calling for him to step down.

But in the Senate, there’s been no such clamoring. The only Democratic senator to say Menendez should resign so far is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday that Menendez “has a right to due process and a fair trial,” and Menendez’s fellow New Jersey Senator Cory Booker hasn’t said anything at all.

For now, the White House appears to be echoing that cautious approach. Back in New Jersey, though, things are moving much faster, with Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) already launching a Democratic primary campaign against the senator and other candidates seriously considering the race as well.