By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - Sen. Ben Cardin assumed the top seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after fellow Democrat Bob Menendez stepped aside from the chairmanship in the wake of his second corruption indictment.
Cardin, the senior senator from the state of Maryland, has a long history of serving in the federal legislature alongside Menendez, working in the House of Representatives with him before for the better part of a decade until they took seats in the Senate within one year of each another.
Cardin said it was "with great humility and appreciation to Majority Leader Schumer and my colleagues" that he assumed the chair Wednesday, vowing to pursue "active, bipartisan engagement" on the Foreign Relations Committee.
"I look forward to working with Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and all our members as the committee tackles the most important challenges facing our nation and the world," he said in a statement. "I intend to continue my longstanding work to ensure that human rights, anti-corruption and good governance are woven into America’s foreign policy. We have much work ahead of us.”
In addition to chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Cardin co-chairs the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is also known as the US Helsinki Commission, and has since 2015 been the Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance for the Organization Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly.
Cardin previously served as the Foreign Relations Committee's senior Democrat from 2015 - 2018 when Menendez was indicted on corruption charges that ultimately led to a hung jury. Prosecutors opted not to relitigate that case, and he resumed the chairmanship after the case concluded.
Senate Democratic Caucus rules stipulate that any senator charged with a felony must step down from leadership roles. Menendez was charged with three felony counts last Friday, including extortion, bribery and honest services fraud.
The New Jersey senator has maintained his innocence and has shot down a growing chorus of demands for him to resign from the Senate, including from more than half of the Democratic Senate caucus.
Those calls have so far not included Cardin who announced earlier this year that he would not be seeking re-election in 2024.
Unlike Menendez, Cardin has taken a more nuanced approach to Türkiye and is thought to be more receptive to the idea of greenlighting F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, which the New Jersey senator has long vowed to stonewall.
US President Joe Biden has already lent his blessing to the multi-billion dollar deal to sell the planes and modernization kits to Türkiye, but it has been held up by Menendez.
Following earthquakes that devastated large swathes of southeastern Türkiye and northwestern Syria earlier this year, Cardin took to the Senate floor to honor the lives lost and pledge continued US assistance for the recovery effort.
"In this great time of sadness for their countries, the United States will stand in humanitarian solidarity to provide relief, recovery, and efforts to build back even stronger," he said. "We will continue to provide rescue and recovery support, and we send our thoughts and prayers to the people of Turkey and Syria.”