Politics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Embattled U.S. Senator Bob Menendez left a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrats on Thursday insisting that he will remain on the job despite calls for his resignation over federal charges he accepted bribes.

“I will continue to cast votes on behalf of the people in New Jersey as I have for 18 years and I am sure when they need those votes, there’ll be looking forward for me to cast those votes,” Menendez told CNN following the gathering, which lasted for about an hour.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin repeatedly told reporters that Menendez conveyed during that meeting that he would not resign, and Manchin said no senators posed any questions to the 69-year-old lawmaker.

Menendez has temporarily stepped down from his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was replaced by Democratic Senator Ben Cardin.

Many of the Democratic senators leaving Thursday’s meeting refused to comment to reporters.

One of the most outspoken Democrats demanding a resignation, Senator John Fetterman, told reporters that he did not attend the lunchtime meeting. He added, however, that Menendez was “continuing a level of arrogance that is astonishing.” He told reporters: “I would like to pursue whatever avenues are available” to get Menendez to leave, including a move in the full Senate to expel him.

It would take a two-thirds vote of the 100 senators to remove a senator. That has occurred only 15 times in U.S. history, 14 of which were during the U.S. Civil War for supporting the Confederacy.

At least 27 senators in the 51-member caucus – Democrats and three independents who typically vote with them – have called for Menendez’ resignation including No. 2 Senate Democrat Dick Durbin. Gary Peters, the head of the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, and Menendez’ fellow senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker, joined the call.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, said on Wednesday Menendez’ behavior fell below the standard appropriate for a senator, but stopped short of calling for him to resign.

Prosecutors have said Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for using their influence to interfere with law enforcement probes of three New Jersey businessmen and aid the Egyptian government.

They pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday.

Menendez’ Senate seat is in play in the 2024 elections. Though New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, his legal troubles could pose problems for his party, which is trying to maintain its narrow control of the chamber. Menendez has drawn one challenger to the seat so far.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Makini Brice and Moira Warburton; Editing by Scott Malone, Jamie Freed and Cynthia Osterman)

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By Makini Brice and Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans leading an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden detailed foreign payments to members of his family in their first hearing on Thursday, but did not provide evidence that the Democratic president had personally benefited.

The initial impeachment hearing by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee served as a review of evidence that Republicans have gathered so far about foreign business ventures by Biden’s troubled son Hunter Biden, 53, which they say shows that Biden’s family members were selling access.

“The American people demand accountability for this culture of corruption,” House Oversight Committee chair James Comer said. He said Biden has lied about family members’ business dealings and had not walled them off from his official duties.

Democrats and several independent witnesses said there was no proof that Biden had received any of those payments, or otherwise engaged in improper behavior while he served as vice president between 2009 and 2017. The White House has denied wrongdoing and dismissed the probe as politically motivated.

“If Republicans had a smoking gun or even a dripping water pistol they would be presenting it today. But they’ve got nothing,” said Jamie Raskin, the panel’s top Democrat.

Biden is campaigning for reelection in what will be a likely rematch with Republican Donald Trump, who is preparing for four upcoming criminal trials on a range of charges, from trying to overthrow his 2020 election defeat to mishandling classified documents are leaving office.

Trump, who was impeached twice during his four years in office, and some of his hardline Republican allies have for months called for a Biden impeachment.

Democrats prominently displayed a clock counting down the minutes until midnight Saturday, when the U.S. government will enter its fourth partial shutdown in a decade if Congress fails to pass legislation to fund federal agencies.

George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley and forensic accountant Bruce Dubinsky said the panel had enough evidence to open an impeachment inquiry but did not have enough evidence to justify impeachment charges.

Another law professor, Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina, said he had not heard credible evidence to justify the probe and warned the panel that it was being driven by partisan concerns.

A fourth witness, former Justice Department official Eileen O’Connor, said she thought the department had soft-pedaled a criminal investigation of Hunter Biden, who now faces gun charges after years of struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

Republicans allege Biden and his family profited from policies he pursued as vice president during former President Barack Obama’s administration between 2009 and 2017. Separately, they also allege the Justice Department interfered with the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden.

UNCLEAR PROSPECTS

It is unclear if House Republicans, who have a narrow 221-212 majority, would have the votes at the end of the inquiry to support actual impeachment. But even if that vote succeeded, it is highly unlikely that the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority, would vote to remove Biden from office.

At the center of the investigation are allegations that Biden, as vice president, pressured Ukraine to fire a top prosecutor to shield Burisma, a company for which Hunter Biden was on the board of directors.

Numerous U.S. and foreign officials have said Biden was carrying out official policy to fight corruption in Ukraine.

Democrats unsuccessfully pressed the panel to subpoena former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who had sought to uncover evidence of Biden wrongdoing in Ukraine, as well as Lev Parnas, a former associate who has denounced Giuliani’s effort.

House Republicans have said they plan to seek personal and business bank records for Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president’s brother.

Comer cited payment records from Chinese nationals to Hunter in 2019, listing Joe Biden’s home address in Delaware as the beneficiary address. Republicans have not provided evidence that the elder Biden received the money.

“Once again Rep. Comer peddles lies to support a premise – some wrongdoing by Hunter Biden or his family – that evaporates in thin air the moment facts come out,” said Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, in a statement on Thursday. Lowell said the money in question was a loan and that the address listed was the address on Hunter Biden’s driver’s license at the time.

The White House said Republicans should focus on reaching a deal to keep the government open on Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

“The consequences for the American people will be very damaging,” the White House said at the hearing’s outset. “Nothing can distract from that.”

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)

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By Tim Reid and Joseph Ax

SIMI VALLEY, California (Reuters) -Donald Trump’s Republican rivals clashed at a chaotic presidential debate on Wednesday, leveling attacks at the absent former president, Democratic President Joe Biden and one another over issues from China to immigration to the economy.

But as the debate ended, no candidate appeared to have secured the sort of breakout moment that would alter the dynamics of a primary contest that Trump has dominated for months, despite his four criminal indictments.

Trump, who led his nearest rival for the nomination by 37 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, skipped the debate, as he did the first one in Wisconsin last month.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called Trump “missing in action” and blamed him for adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.

“He should be on this stage tonight,” DeSantis said, drawing applause from the audience at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California. “He owes it to you to defend his record.”

The dig from DeSantis, whose poll numbers have declined after he had been widely seen as the leading Trump alternative, suggested he was more willing to attack the frontrunner after months of largely avoiding direct confrontation.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a frequent Trump critic, chimed in, saying Trump was “afraid” and mocking him as “Donald Duck” for skipping the debate.

Mike Pence, vice president under Trump from 2017-2021, said he would take an opposite approach to Trump if elected. He said Trump planned to centralize power in the federal government but he would give more power to the states.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the November 2024 election, was also a frequent target for the Republican candidates, who castigated his handling of the economy and the southern border with Mexico.

As in the first debate in August, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – a political neophyte whose campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is his first run for public office – repeatedly drew the ire of his fellow Republicans.

“Every time, I hear you, I feel a little dumber,” Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador, told Ramaswamy after he defended joining TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media site that has raised security concerns among U.S. officials. Ramaswamy said he uses the app to connect with young voters.

All of the candidates vowed to take a muscular approach to immigration and attacked the Biden administration for failing to stem the migrant crisis that has fueled record illegal crossings at the southern border.

The seven candidates are vying with Trump to become their party’s nominee to face Biden in the 2024 election.

Minutes before the debate kicked off, Trump delivered a speech to autoworkers in the battleground state of Michigan, inserting himself into a national dispute between striking workers and the country’s leading automakers a day after Biden joined a union picket line.

“They’re all job candidates,” Trump said dismissively of the seven Republicans at the debate. “Does anybody see any VP in the group? I don’t think so.”

By shunning both debates, the former president signaled he was focused on Biden, his once and perhaps future opponent, rather than the Republican contenders who trail badly in the polls.

With less than four months until Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Republican nominating contest, Trump’s rivals are running short on time to weaken his commanding hold on the primary campaign.

Wednesday’s debate loomed particularly large for DeSantis, whose campaign has already endured two staff shakeups as donors expressed concern about his inability to gain on Trump.

DeSantis, 45, made his name nationally by opposing many U.S. government policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He has since become a leading figure fighting what he argues are overly progressive policies favored by educators and corporations.

Haley, meanwhile, was hoping a second consecutive strong debate performance will convince some Republican donors she has the best odds of unseating Trump.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum also qualified for the debate.

IMMIGRATION IN FOCUS

Immigration took center stage during the debate.

DeSantis promised to deploy the U.S. military against Mexican cartels, while entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said he would try to revoke birthright citizenship for the children of those who entered the country illegally.

Even when asked about the expanding U.S. autoworkers’ strike, Senator Tim Scott turned the subject to the border while criticizing Biden for joining the picket line on Tuesday.

“Biden should not be on the picket line,” Scott said. “He should be on the southern border working to close our southern border because it is unsafe, wide open and insecure, leading to the deaths of 70,000 Americans in the last 12 months because of fentanyl.”

Most of the candidates expressed support for continued aid to Ukraine, though DeSantis said he would not offer a “blank check.” Ramaswamy warned that backing Ukraine was pushing Russia further toward China, prompting renewed criticisms from his rivals that he would appease Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The moderators did not ask the candidates about Trump’s myriad legal problems. The 77-year-old businessman-turned-politician has been indicted in four criminal cases, and on Tuesday, a New York state judge found that he committed fraud by inflating the value of his business assets.

(Reporting by Tim Reid; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, Jasper Ward, Eric Beech and Gram Slattery; Writing by Joseph Ax in Princeton, New Jersey; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)

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By Moira Warburton and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday rejected a stopgap funding bill advancing in the Senate, bringing Washington closer to its fourth partial shutdown of the U.S. government in a decade with just four days to go.

That would lead to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers and the suspension of a wide range of government services, from economic data releases to nutrition benefits, until Congress manages to pass a funding bill that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, would sign into law.

The Senate plan, which advanced on a wide bipartisan margin on Tuesday, would fund the government through Nov. 17, giving lawmakers more time to agree on funding levels for the full fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said the Senate would hold the next procedural vote on its bill on Thursday, unless senators can reach an agreement that would allow them to vote sooner.

McCarthy’s House of Representatives was focusing its efforts on trying to agree on more of the 12 separate full-year funding bills, of which they have so far passed one.

“I don’t see the support in the House” for the Senate plan, McCarthy said, though the bill has the support of Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The House was expected to vote late into the night on amendments to specific funding bills, though even if all four of those bills were to be signed into law by Saturday, on their own they would not be enough to prevent a partial government shutdown.

Weeks ago, Biden urged Congress to pass a short-term extension of fiscal 2023 spending, along with emergency aid to help state and local governments cope with natural disasters and help Ukraine in its war against Russia. He also sought new border security funding.

“If we have a government shutdown, a lot of vital work and science and health could be impacted, from cancer research to food safety,” Biden said on Wednesday. “So the American people need our Republican friends in the House of Representatives to do their jobs: Fund the government.”

The standoff has begun to attract the attention of ratings agencies, with both Moody’s and Fitch warning it could damage the federal government’s credit-worthiness.

House Republicans want much tougher legislation that would stop the flow of immigrants at the U.S. southern border with Mexico and deeper spending cuts than were enacted in June.

CALL FOR BIPARTISANSHIP

Worries of a shutdown are already spreading outside of Washington. In Atlanta, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum moved up its planned Sunday festivities celebrating the former president’s 99th birthday to Saturday before federal funds could be frozen at midnight, according to local media.

Executive branch agencies were already making preparations for determining which federal workers would remain on the job — without pay until the government is funded — and which ones will be furloughed. Similar exercises were occurring in Congress as well, where thousands of legislative aides and other support workers are employed.

“Speaker McCarthy, the only way – the only way – out of a shutdown is bipartisanship,” Schumer said in a speech to the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he opposed a shutdown.

“The Border Patrol and ICE agencies have to continue to work for nothing” during a shutdown, the Republican lawmaker told reporters on Wednesday, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). McConnell added that a solution is not “more likely to happen in the shutdown than with the government open.”

McCarthy is facing threats from hardline members of his own party who rejected a deal he negotiated with Biden in May for $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal 2024 and approved in June, demanding instead another $120 billion in cuts.

A handful of the hardliners have also threatened to oust McCarthy from his leadership role if he passes a spending bill that requires any Democratic votes to pass.

McCarthy said House Republicans would probably bring their own stopgap measure to the floor on Friday.

It was unclear whether there will be the votes in the House to pass it.

The standoff comes four months after Washington flirted with defaulting on the nation’s more than $31 trillion in debt, a move that would have rocked financial markets worldwide.

Another downgrade of the U.S. credit rating could push borrowing costs – and the nation’s debt – even higher.

Hardline Republicans, including Donald Trump, frontrunner for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, have dismissed the risks of a shutdown and in some cases actively pushed for one.

“My advice is buckle up — there’s turbulence ahead,” Representative Andy Ogles told reporters after attending a closed-door meeting of fellow Republicans.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton, Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Scott Malone, Tom Hogue and Jonathan Oatis)

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By Alexandra Ulmer

(Reuters) – Two White House hopefuls squabbled over curtains on live television, while a third boasted he had been sleeping with a teacher for the past 38 years who happened to be his wife as a Republican presidential debate took some strange turns.

The seven Republicans on stage at their party’s second 2024 presidential primary debate on Wednesday night sought to convince voters they could be a viable alternative to frontrunner Donald Trump, who skipped the televised event.

Instead, the debate often devolved into petty fights and some bizarre comments.

U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina criticized former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley over the purchase of $50,000 curtains at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

Haley, U.N. ambassador in Trump’s administration, said the curtains had been bought during the previous Obama administration, and told Scott to “do your homework.”

Scott responded by asking three times: “Did you send them back?” before the exchange devolved into cacophony with the two candidates, joined by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, talking over one another.

The New York Times in 2018 reported that $52,701 had been spent for “customized and mechanized curtains” for the residence. The article said plans to buy the curtains were made in 2016, before Trump took office.

In another moment, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie used a question about education to mention that Democratic President Joe Biden was “sleeping with a member of the teachers’ union” – a reference to his wife Jill Biden, a teacher.

Building on that comment, Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, said he had to admit that “I’ve been sleeping with a teacher for 38 years” – a reference to his own wife, Karen Pence.

Trump supporters claimed the level of debate showed why he was in the lead.

“Trump’s primary non-challengers are spending their night debating about curtains,” pro-Trump consultant Alex Bruesewitz posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “Trump 2024.”

The debate ended with a proposal from a moderator for the candidates to write down who should be “voted off the island” to help winnow the field of candidates vying with Trump for the Republican nomination.

The proposal, reminiscent of the reality TV show “Survivor,” was swiftly rejected by the candidates, led by DeSantis, who said it was “disrespectful.”

Only Christie answered, saying he would vote off Trump. “He needs to be voted off the island, and he needs to be taken out of this process,” Christie said.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)

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By Moira Warburton, David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday rejected a stopgap funding bill advancing in the Senate, bringing Washington closer to its fourth partial shutdown of the U.S. government in a decade in just four days.

That would lead to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers and the suspension of a wide range of government services, from economic data releases to nutrition benefits, until Congress manages to pass a funding bill that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, would sign into law.

The Senate plan, which advanced on a wide bipartisan margin on Tuesday, would fund the government through Nov. 17, giving lawmakers more time to agree on funding levels for the full fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

McCarthy’s House of Representatives was focusing its efforts on trying to agree on more of the 12 separate full-year funding bills, of which they have so far passed one.

“I don’t see the support in the House” for the Senate plan, McCarthy said, though the bill has the support of Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“The president should step in and do something about it; otherwise the government will shut down,” McCarthy told reporters.

The House was expected to vote late into the night on amendments to specific funding bills, though even if all four of those bills were to be signed into law by Saturday, on their own they would not be enough to prevent a partial government shutdown.

Weeks ago, Biden urged Congress to pass a short-term extension of fiscal 2023 spending, along with emergency aid to help state and local governments cope with natural disasters and help Ukraine in its war against Russia. He also sought new border security funding.

The standoff has begun to attract the attention of ratings agencies, with both Moody’s and Fitch warning it could damage the federal government’s credit-worthiness.

House Republicans want much tougher legislation that would stop the flow of immigrants at the U.S. southern border with Mexico and deeper spending cuts than were enacted in June.

CALL FOR BIPARTISANSHIP

Executive branch agencies were already making preparations for determining which federal workers would remain on the job — without pay until the government is funded — and which ones will be furloughed. Similar exercises were occurring in Congress as well, where thousands of legislative aides and other support workers are employed.

“Speaker McCarthy, the only way – the only way out of a shutdown is bipartisanship,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech to the Senate.

The Senate its bill also would appropriate about $6 billion for domestic disaster responses and another $6 billion in new aid to Ukraine.

McCarthy is facing threats from hardline members of his own party who rejected a deal he negotiated with Biden in May for $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal 2024 and approved in June, demanding instead another $120 billion in cuts.

A handful of the hardliners have also threatened to oust McCarthy from his leadership role if he passes a spending bill that requires any Democratic votes to pass.

McCarthy said House Republicans would probably bring their own stopgap measure to the floor on Friday.

It was unclear whether there will be the votes in the House to win passage of it, however.

The standoff comes four months after Washington flirted with defaulting on the nation’s more than $31 trillion in debt, a move that would have rocked financial markets worldwide.

Another downgrade of the U.S. credit rating could push borrowing costs – and the nation’s debt – even higher.

Hardline Republicans, including Donald Trump, frontrunner for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, have dismissed the risks of a shutdown and in some cases actively pushed for one.

“My advice is buckle up — there’s turbulence ahead,” Representative Andy Ogles told reporters after attending a closed-door meeting of fellow Republicans.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton, Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Scott Malone, Tom Hogue and Jonathan Oatis)

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By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is set to appear in court on Wednesday to face charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessman, as calls for his resignation from his fellow Democrats escalated.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week accused Menendez, 69, and his wife of accepting gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the senator using his influence to aid Egypt’s government and interfere with law enforcement probes of the businessmen.

Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez, 56, and businessmen Jose Uribe, 56, and Fred Daibes, 66, are set to appear in Manhattan federal court around 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). A third businessman, Wael Hana, 40, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

David Schertler, a lawyer for Nadine Menendez, said she intends to plead not guilty and “vigorously defend” against the allegations. Lawyers for Bob Menendez, Uribe and Daibes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bob Menendez, who represents New Jersey, stepped down from his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as required under his party’s rule. But on Monday he said that he would stay in the Senate and fight the charges.

More than one-third of all U.S. Democratic Senators, including Cory Booker who also hails from New Jersey, have called on Menendez – a powerful voice on foreign policy who has at times bucked his own party – to resign since the charges were unveiled on Friday.

Democrats narrowly control the chamber with 51 seats, including three independents who normally vote with them, to the Republican’s 49. Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who would appoint a temporary replacement should Menendez step aside, has also called for him to resign.

The indictment contained images of gold bars and cash investigators seized from Menendez’s home. Prosecutors say Hana arranged meetings between the senator and Egyptian officials – who pressed him to sign off on military aid – and in return put Nadine Menendez, 56, on the payroll of a company he controlled.

The probe marks the third time Menendez has been under investigation by federal prosecutors. He has never been convicted.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen, additional reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Timothy Gardner)

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By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez arrived in federal court on Wednesday to face charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessman, as calls for the senator’s resignation from his fellow Democrats escalated.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week accused Menendez, 69, and his wife of accepting gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the senator using his influence to aid Egypt’s government and interfere with law enforcement investigations of the businessmen.

Bob Menendez, Nadine Menendez, 56, and businessmen Jose Uribe, 56, and Fred Daibes, 66, are set to appear in a federal courtroom in Manhattan around 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). A third businessman, Wael Hana, 40, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

David Schertler, a lawyer for Nadine Menendez, said she intends to plead not guilty and “vigorously defend” against the allegations. Lawyers for Bob Menendez, Uribe and Daibes did not respond to requests for comment.

Bob Menendez, one of two senators representing New Jersey, stepped down from his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as required under his party’s rule. But on Monday he said he would stay in the Senate and fight the charges.

More than half of all U.S. Democratic senators – including Cory Booker, the junior senator from New Jersey – have called on Menendez, a powerful voice on foreign policy who has at times bucked his own party, to resign since the charges were unveiled on Friday.

Democrats narrowly control the Senate with 51 seats, including three independents who normally vote with them, to the Republicans’ 49. Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who would appoint a temporary replacement should Menendez step aside, has also called for him to resign.

The indictment contained images of gold bars and cash investigators seized from Menendez’s home. Prosecutors say Hana arranged meetings between the senator and Egyptian officials – who pressed him to sign off on military aid – and in return put Nadine Menendez on the payroll of a company he controlled.

The probe marks the third time Menendez has been under investigation by federal prosecutors. He has never been convicted.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen; Additional reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Oatis)

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By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Senator Bob Menendez pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of taking bribes from three New Jersey businessman, as calls for his resignation from his fellow Democrats escalated.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week accused Menendez, 69, and his wife of accepting gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the senator using his influence to aid Egypt’s government and interfere with law enforcement investigations of the businessmen.

Menendez entered the plea at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona Wang in Manhattan.

His wife, Nadine Menendez, 56, and businessmen Jose Uribe, 56, and Fred Daibes, 66, also pleaded not guilty. A third businessman, Wael Hana, 40, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

Menendez, one of two senators representing New Jersey, stepped down from his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as required under his party’s rules. But on Monday he said he would stay in the Senate and fight the charges.

More than half of all U.S. Democratic senators – including Cory Booker, the junior senator from New Jersey – have called on Menendez, a powerful voice on foreign policy who has at times bucked his own party, to resign since the charges were unveiled on Friday.

Democrats narrowly control the Senate with 51 seats, including three independents who normally vote with them, to the Republicans’ 49. Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who would appoint a temporary replacement should Menendez step aside, has also called for him to resign.

The indictment contained images of gold bars and cash investigators seized from Menendez’s home. Prosecutors say Hana arranged meetings between the senator and Egyptian officials – who pressed him to sign off on military aid – and in return put his wife on the payroll of a company he controlled.

The probe marks the third time Menendez has been under investigation by federal prosecutors. He has never been convicted.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen; Additional reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone, Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Oatis)

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By David Morgan, Richard Cowan and Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Tuesday took a step forward on a bipartisan bill meant to stop the government from shutting down in just five days, while the House sought to push ahead with a conflicting measure backed only by Republicans.

The Senate voted 77-19 to begin debate on a measure that would fund the government through Nov. 17, and includes around $6 billion for domestic disaster responses and another roughly $6 billion in aid for Ukraine.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, however, planned to push along with its own partisan bill that was unlikely to win support in the Democratic-majority Senate.

The split between the two chambers suggested the federal government was increasingly likely to enter its fourth shutdown in a decade on Sunday, a pattern of partisan gridlock that has begun to darken Wall Street’s view of the U.S. government’s credit.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell worked in tandem to win passage of a bipartisan short-term extension of federal funding at current levels.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday told reporters he would seek approval from his splintered Republicans on a bill that also would temporarily fund the government.

But he intends to attach tough border and immigration restrictions that are unlikely to win support from enough Democrats in the House or Senate to become law.

Democratic President Joe Biden and McCarthy had aimed to head off a shutdown this year when they agreed in May, at the end of a standoff over the federal debt ceiling, to discretionary spending of $1.59 trillion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

But hardliners to the right of McCarthy have rejected that deal, demanding another $120 billion in cuts.

McCarthy’s measure would restart construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, a signature policy of former President Donald Trump, and tighten immigration policies.

Critics have said it would effectively put an end to U.S. asylum for immigrants.

‘SHUTDOWNS ARE BAD NEWS’

McCarthy called on the Biden and congressional Democrats to reconsider their opposition. The top Senate Republican pleaded with his House counterpart to embrace the Senate bill.

“Government shutdowns are bad news, whichever way you’d look at it,” McConnell said.

McCarthy countered, “Let’s do something on the border, keep the government open and show this nation that we can do it right, and solve the rest of our problems as we go.”

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed and a wide range of services, from economic data releases to nutrition benefits, will be suspended beginning on Sunday if the two sides do not reach agreement. In Washington, the National Zoo says it would have to curtail its farewell party for three giant pandas before they return to China.

The standoff has caused concern at credit rating agency Moody’s, though it is unclear whether it will hurt U.S. creditworthiness, as past shutdowns have not had a significant impact on the world’s largest economy.

It is also factoring into the 2024 presidential election, with Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, cheering on the shutdown talk.

The cuts that hardliners are pushing for only account for a fraction of the total U.S. budget, which will come to $6.4 trillion for this fiscal year. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare, which are projected to grow dramatically as the population ages.

Biden himself has called on House Republicans to honor his deal with McCarthy.

Bowing to their concerns, McCarthy has teed up a procedural vote on Tuesday evening to take up four spending bills for the coming fiscal year that reflect conservative priorities and stand no chance of becoming law.

If Tuesday’s House vote succeeds, lawmakers would try to pass the four measures out of the House later in the week. They would not fund the full government or prevent a shutdown.

Republicans control the House by a narrow 221-212 majority and have few votes to spare, particularly since some Republican hardliners have threatened to move to oust McCarthy from his leadership role if he relies on Democratic votes to pass legislation.

That could complicate any effort to pass a stopgap spending bill and avert a shutdown.

Congress has shut down the government 14 times since 1981, though most of those funding gaps have lasted only a day or two.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Richard Cowan, additional reporting by Makini Brice and Moira Warburton; writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Grant McCool and Chris Reese)

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