WASHINGTON — With mounting calls for embattled Sen. Bob Menendez to resign, the pharmaceutical industry could see one of its historical, and increasingly rare, Democratic allies ousted from Congress.
The New Jersey senator is embroiled in another financial scandal after last week’s indictment over hundreds of thousands of dollars he and his wife allegedly accepted to influence military aid. The charges — which Menendez insists he will beat — come roughly seven years after he was accused of pressuring Medicare officials to resolve a dispute in favor of a lavish political donor. That case ended in a hung jury.
But this time around, Capitol lawmakers and New Jersey Democrats including Sen. Cory Booker, a longtime legislation partner, are calling on Menendez to resign. The mounting pressure and looming court battle spell out a hazy future for one of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest allies in the Democratic Party.