Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) will resign his seat effective August 20, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by CNN on Tuesday.
A jury last week found Menendez guilty on 16 counts — including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent — for his role in a yearslong bribery scheme.
Menendez had faced mounting pressure from within his own party to resign or face the threat of expulsion from the Senate.
He had previously said he will not run for reelection in the Democratic primary for his Senate seat, but left open the possibility that he could run as an independent candidate.
Receipt of Menendez’s resignation letter was announced Tuesday on the Senate floor in a brief exchange between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Presiding Officer Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is expected to appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of Menendez’s term, which ends on January 3, 2025.
Menendez, who faces sentencing on October 29, has maintained he never violated his public oath and has said he has never been anything “but a patriot of my country and for my country.”