Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the upper chamber, on Wednesday called for Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to step down after corruption charges were brought by the Manhattan District Attorney's office against him.
"Leaders in New Jersey, including the Governor and my Senate colleague Cory Booker [D-N.J.], have made it clear that Sen. Menendez can no longer serve. He should step down," Durbin wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Menendez on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he and his wife, Nadine, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, a luxury vehicle and envelopes of cash, from three New Jersey businessmen to secretly aid the Egyptian government.
His "leadership position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the 'SFRC'), first as the Ranking Member and then the Chairman" allowed him to peddle influence in these areas, the 39-page indictment said.
More than half of the party's Senate caucus has called on Menendez to resign.
"The details of the allegations against Senator Menendez are of such a nature that the faith and trust of New Jerseyans as well as those he must work with in order to be effective have been shaken to the core," Booker said, adding: "I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving."