Senate to swear in Menendez successor following NJ lawmaker's conviction, resignation

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The replacement for former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., will be sworn into the upper chamber of Congress on Monday. 

The Senate will swear in George Helmy, the former chief of staff for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, to serve out the remainder of Menendez’s term, which expires on Jan. 3. The ceremony is expected to take place at approximately 5 p.m. ET.

Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, D-Wash., will swear in Helmy, since Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, who is president of the Senate, is not there. 

Menendez resigned Aug. 20 following his conviction for taking bribes for corrupt acts, including acting as an agent of the Egyptian government. 

NEW JERSEY GOV. MURPHY TO APPOINT FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, GEORGE HELMY, TO VACATED MENENDEZ SENATE SEAT: REPORT

Sen. Bob Menendez arrives at Manhattan federal court, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

Helmy will not serve for long, as the seat was already up for election on Nov. 5. Democrats have nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who is in a strong position in the Democratic-leaning state. He faces Republican Curtis Bashaw. While still on trial in July, Menendez filed to run as an independent candidate for re-election. 

Helmy served as Murphy’s chief of staff for more than four years and most recently was employed as an executive and head of external affairs for RWJBarnabas Health. He also previously served as state director for Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and will now serve beside Booker in the upper chamber until the end of the 118th Congress. 

Murphy could have handed Kim a possible advantage by appointing him to the vacated seat. Kim competed against the governor’s wife, Tammy Murphy, in the Democratic Senate primary. The New Jersey first lady withdrew her candidacy in late March. 

Last week, a New Jersey real estate developer convicted alongside Menendez this summer pleaded guilty to a separate bank fraud charge. 

Fred Daibes, 67, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Newark, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement Thursday. He was charged with making false statements concerning a 2008 loan.

Sen. Bob Menendez speaks to the media as he exits Manhattan federal court on July 16, 2024, in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

DEMOCRATIC SEN. BOB MENENDEZ GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES IN FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL 

While Daibes was chairman and CEO at Mariner's Bank, he falsely said another person was the borrower on a $1.8 million loan when in fact the line of credit was for him, prosecutors said.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a top fine of $1 million.

Daibes, Menendez and a third businessman, Wael Hanna, were convicted in July on bribery charges stemming from what prosecutors said was a scheme in which the three-term senator took cash, gold bars and a car in exchange for helping them. Another businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty, while attorneys for Menendez, Hana and Daibes plan to appeal.

Fred Daibes enters federal court in New York, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Nadine Menendez, the senator's wife, was also charged and pleaded not guilty but has yet to go on trial.

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The senator had insisted after the July 16 verdict that he was innocent and in a July 23 letter announcing his upcoming resignation to Murphy, Menendez promised to appeal "all the way," including to the Supreme Court. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.