John Fetterman proposes sanctions against Bob Menendez to pressure him to resign

Sen. John Fetterman has been very clear that he thinks Sen. Bob Menendez needs to go, and now he’s adding fire to his pressure campaign.

Fetterman was the first senator to call on Menendez to step down when he was indicted on federal corruption charges in September, and on Thursday he introduced a resolution that would sanction members of the Senate who are under indictment for certain crimes, barring them from committee assignments, access to classified information, and the ability to request earmarks or use government money for international travel.

Menendez, the senior senator from New Jersey, has said he has no plans to resign the position he’s held since 2006. He characterized the resolution as a “a publicity stunt that disregards core constitutional principles of American democracy — due process, the presumption of innocence, and the rule of law,” in a statement on Thursday.

“Instead of focusing on generating clickbait,” Menendez said of Fetterman, “he should channel his efforts toward legislating and delivering results for the people of Pennsylvania.”

The resolution, first reported by Politico, does not mention Menendez by name but it would directly impact him. The sanctions would apply to people federally charged with improper handling of classified information, acting as a foreign agent or compromising national security. Senators would only be exempt from the sanctions with a vote of two-thirds of the Senate.

“When you find gold bars stuffed in mattresses, the jokes write themselves. But this isn’t funny,” Fetterman said in a statement, referring to some of the details prosecutors included in the indictment against Menendez. “We must protect our national security, and that means ensuring that Senators who are indicted for acting as foreign agents can’t access our national secrets.”

The resolution is the latest in an ongoing push Fetterman has made for Menendez to resign. While at least 30 other senators — including Bob Casey (D., Pa.) and Cory Booker (D., N.J.) — have said they believe Menendez should step down, Fetterman has been the most vocal, emphasizing Menendez’s access to classified information and asking the Senate to expel him. Fetterman also announced he’d return donations from Menendez.

It was unclear whether the resolution would get support in the chamber, known for being an institution where members tend to protect one another — or at least tend to avoid outright conflict.

Menendez stepped down as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September, as is required by Senate bylaws which ban any member charged with a felony from serving in leadership. He remains a member of the committee and attended a classified briefing on Ukraine this week, prompting some concern from colleagues. He previously skipped an intelligence briefing on Israel.

When CNN asked Menendez about the Ukraine meeting, he defended his attendance.

“Bottom line is, I’m a United States senator, I have my security credentials, and an accusation is just that. It’s not proof of anything,” he told the network.

Menendez, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, has been carrying on with Senate business as usual. On Thursday his Senate office sent out a release touting funding to modernize equipment and security at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.