Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) is calling on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to resign in the face of corruption charges, his office confirmed to The Hill. Phillips, a member of the bipartisan Problem Sol…

  • Rapidcreek@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    There is zero downside for Democrats to insist Menendez to go, or force him to resign. If he refuses, defeat him in the primary. He should not be on the ballot in Nov 2024.

    • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.gg
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      1 year ago

      Uh… there’s the Senate majority getting further thinned. Pretty sure this would result in a two party tie if he resigned at least until he could be replaced … and that’s assuming he’s replaced with a Democrat.

      That in turn means all kinds of potentially compromised confirmations.

      • Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s sad that this is even a consideration. We shouldn’t have to keep corrupt pigs in office because of who’s team their on.

        On the other hand, the “other team” tends to be full of corrupt pigs and it’s arguably legitimately dangerous for the entire country.

        • squiblet@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          It’s disappointing that to avoid giving republicans more power, democrats might have to tolerate having someone corrupt stay in office. We know that the Rs would never get rid of someone who might be replaced by a democrat as power is their #1 objective. Clarence Thomas, for instance.

          • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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            1 year ago

            Dems would still maintain their majority. To me it is worth it to take out the trash. But if you want to get realpolitik then I think it’s still worthwhile to not tolerate a prominent corrupt politician in your ranks. That could have electoral consequences for the party as a whole.

            • squiblet@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              Sure, ideally they’d boot him out. Someone taking overt bribes doesn’t belong in congress (the dumb thing is, there are so many ways to take non-overt bribes, which 95% of them do - have a family member hired by a lobbyist or foundation, for instance). It’s just unfortunate that Republicans get an advantage since they’d never boot one of their own who was found guilty of corruption. They’d just ignore it or deny it, and their voters would either deny it or just not care also.

      • cbarrick@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It depends on how New Jersey replaces senators.

        In a lot of states, the Governor can appoint a replacement. In NJ, that would still be a democrat.

        I dunno how NJ does it though.