A New York jury on Tuesday found Sen. Bob Menendez guilty on 16 counts for bribery, extortion, and fraud charges. Calls for Menendez’s resignation quickly followed. Whether or not he immediately listens to them, Menendez is unlikely to continue his regular congressional activities given that he’s now been convicted — among other charges — of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt.
Without Menendez, the pharmaceutical industry will lose an important friend in Congress. The longtime New Jersey Democratic senator has held his post since 2006 and has been in Congress for more than three decades, representing the home state of several pharmaceutical giants including Johnson & Johnson and Merck. Health care and pharma are among his top contributing industries, and his voting record has often aligned with their interests. In 2019, the senator sided with Republicans voting against price caps and drug negotiations, and in 2021 he opposed pricing reform. That same year, though he was not up for reelection, he received significant donations from pharmaceutical industry CEOs.
Menendez remains among the top senators when it comes to receiving campaign donations from the health and pharma industries. As of press time, he was still running as an independent in the upcoming election.
His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PhRMA, the industry’s leading trade group, declined to comment.
His relationship with big pharma companies was also on display when, in 2015, he was indicted in a bribery case and accused of having received $1 million in gifts in exchange for exerting his influence in the resolution of Medicare billing disputes worth tens of millions of dollars. That case ended with a deadlocked jury.
There are a few options as to what could happen next for Menendez. He could hold onto his seat, only to be voted out of the Senate by his colleagues — an exceedingly rare measure that hasn’t occurred since the early 1860s, when 14 senators were expelled for supporting the Confederacy. He could decide to let his term expire and not seek reelection. Finally, he could run for election, win, and continue to hold his office next year. Though this is a more far-fetched scenario, no law forbids convicted felons from serving in Congress.
Should Menendez resign before the end of his term, the choice of his replacement will be made by Phil Murphy, New Jersey’s Democratic governor, whose wife was one of the primary candidates against Menendez. The most obvious choice would be Andy Kim, the current Democratic candidate running for Menendez’s seat.
“I called on Senator Menendez to step down when these charges were first made public, and now that he has been found guilty, I believe the only course of action for him is to resign his seat immediately,” Kim said in a statement. “The people of New Jersey deserve better.”
Kim previously told STAT that while he is “not somebody that demonizes the pharmaceutical industry,” he’s in favor of reform, in particular when it comes to pricing and accessibility. But regardless of who — if anyone — replaces Mendendez, at a time when both parties are campaigning on drug price regulation and reform, it will be hard for the pharmaceutical industry to find an equally supportive ally.