Bob Menendez to ‘Temporarily’ Step Down as Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey will temporarily step down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in New York on Friday, according to a statement issued by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.

Menendez, the three-term senior senator from New Jersey, was indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on federal corruption charges, being alleged to have accepted bribes in cash, gold bullion and a luxury car in exchange for shaping U.S. foreign policy towards Egypt and interfering in investigations on behalf of his affiliates. Schumer announced that Menendez’s decision to step down from his role as chairman was temporary, according to the announcement.

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Federal Prosecutors in Menendez Bribery Case Say Found Gold Bars, Hidden Cash in Senator’s Home

Prosecutors said Friday morning they have indicted New Jersey Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife on federal bribery charges.

They alleged in a press conference shortly after the charges were announced the Menendezs took bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car for corrupt acts, including having the senator, who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, use his influence to benefit the authoritarian government of Egypt.

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Senate Preps Bill to Check China’s ‘Aggressive and Assertive Behavior’

A Senate committee plans to review major legislation that proposes to curb China’s increasingly aggressive behavior attempting to expand its influence.

The Strategic Competition Act of 2021 would boost the ability for the U.S. to respond to China’s “aggressive and assertive foreign policy,” according to the text of the bill released by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez on Thursday. The 281-page bipartisan legislation is the first proposal from both Democrats and Republicans that lays out a strategy to defend against Chinese aggression.

“The United States must ensure that all Federal departments and agencies are organized to reflect the fact that strategic competition with the [People’s Republic of China] is the United States top foreign policy priority,” the legislation states.

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Blackburn Leads Bill to Fight ‘Digital Authoritarianism’ in China, Russia

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced a bill Friday that she says would help prevent authoritarian governments in Russia and China from restricting “Internet freedom.”

“Leading censors like China and Russia are not only employing more sophisticated means to control the lives of their citizens online; they are also exporting their censorship and surveillance tactics to illiberal regimes abroad,” Blackburn said in a press release.

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