Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Conscience of the Senate

Sen. Robert (Bob) Menendez (D-NJ) is the senior United States Senator from New Jersey. The son of Cuban immigrants, he is a career politician, first gaining elective office at age 20 on the Union City Board of Education. After working his way up to the U.S. House of Representatives, in which he served for 13 years, he he was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2006. He is an establishment figure. He controls the Democratic machine in Hudson County, NJ and has served as the chair of both the House Democratic Caucus and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Of the 46 Senate Democrats in the 115th Congress, GovTrack ranked his voting record as 24th most moderate, placing him in the middle of the party ideologically.

In 2015, the Department of Justice indicted Menendez "in connection with a bribery scheme." The indictment alleged, "Menendez accepted close to $1 million worth of lavish gifts and campaign contributions from [Florida ophthalmologist Salomon] Melgen in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to influence the outcome of ongoing contractual and Medicare billing disputes worth tens of millions of dollars to Melgen and to support the visa applications of several of Melgen’s girlfriends." The case ended in a mistrial on all charges on account of a lack of jury unanimity. While, the Justice Department subsequently dropped the charges, the Senate Ethics Committee "severely admonished" him.

Menendez is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the purposes of our simulation, and the Ranking Member in real life. He is a hawkish Democrat who has been more in line with Republicans than Democrats in key areas, including staunch support for Israel, opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, support for military intervention in Syria, and opposition to diplomatic engagement with Cuba. Some progressives argue that these positions are "all about the Benjamins baby": Menendez is the number one recipient of pro-Israel groups' donations among Senate Democrats and AIPAC was a major financier of his legal defense fund during the corruption scandal.