Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.
In today’s edition, senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur looks at what comes next for Sen. Bob Menendez after his guilty verdict. Deputy politics editor Adam Wollner previews night 2 of the Republican National Convention. And national political correspondent Steve Kornacki breaks down the historic age gap between Donald Trump and his new running mate.
Programming note: Stay tuned for a special edition of the From the Politics Desk newsletter each night after the Republican National Convention this week, bringing you all the latest news and analysis from our team in Milwaukee.
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Senate Democrats tell Menendez to ‘resign or face expulsion’ after guilty verdict
By Sahil Kapur, Kate Santaliz and Frank Thorp V
Democrats are turning up the heat on Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., as more senators call on him to resign his seat, with some issuing new threats to expel him after he was found guilty Tuesday on 16 federal counts that included bribery and acting as a foreign agent.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who had previously chastised Menendez, joined the calls for the New Jersey Democrat to step down shortly after the verdict.
“In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” Schumer said in a brief statement.
But other Democrats went beyond simply calling on him to quit and endorsed expulsion if he refused to resign immediately; Senate rules do not require members to step down due to felony convictions.
“As I said when he was charged, public service is a sacred trust and Senator Menendez has broken that trust,” Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said on X. “Now that a jury of his peers has found him guilty on all 16 charges, including acting as a foreign agent, Senator Menendez should resign or face expulsion from the Senate.”
After he was indicted, Menendez relinquished his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the trial went forward but continued to vote as a member of the panel and on the floor. That could rapidly become untenable after his conviction in a bribery scheme that included acting to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
The Senate Ethics Committee is already investigating Menendez and said Tuesday it would complete that probe “promptly.” If Menendez declined to resign, the panel could make a recommendation that the Senate expel him. It takes two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, to expel a member.
Since 1789, the Senate has expelled only 15 members, with 14 of them ousted from the Senate for their role in the Confederacy. The last expulsion occurred in 1862, when a group of senators were removed for their support of the Confederate rebellion.
Menendez’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 29, just before Election Day, when voters will decide who should fill the seat for the next six years. Menendez has filed to run for re-election as an independent and indicated he will appeal the verdict — without saying whether that will impact his re-election plans or if he plans to resign from the Senate.
What to watch on night 2 of the Republican National Convention
By Adam Wollner
The theme for the second day of the GOP convention is “Make America Safe Once Again,” with speakers expected to focus on immigration, border security and crime.
There is a bevy of notable Republicans on the schedule for this evening, ranging from former President Donald Trump’s onetime primary opponents and running mate prospects to key down-ballot candidates.
Trump’s former rivals: In an attempt to display unity, three of Trump’s opponents in the 2024 presidential primary — former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — are slated to address convention delegates. Haley and DeSantis have had more volatile relationships with Trump, while Ramaswamy fully embraced the former president after dropping out.
NBC News’ Ali Vitali reports that Haley’s speech will address those who are uncertain about voting for Trump.
VP contenders: After selecting Vance as his running mate, Trump is giving the other names who were under consideration or floated for the job in recent months a moment in the spotlight this week. Tonight, those Republicans include Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.
House leadership: Stefanik, the chair of the House Republican conference, is also among the party leaders in the chamber who will speak from the stage this evening, along with Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (who, like Trump, survived a shooting in 2017) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer. In addition to the presidential race, the GOP aims to call attention to the battle for the House, where the party holds a razor-thin majority.
Senate candidates: Speaking of down-ballot races, Republicans will highlight their party’s Senate candidates tonight as well, as they seek to win control of the upper chamber this fall. There are the candidates running for Democratic-held seats in Trump states: Jim Justice of Virginia, Tim Sheehy of Montana and Bernie Moreno of Ohio. There are the candidates in core battleground states: Kari Lake of Arizona, Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, Mike Rogers of Michigan, Sam Brown of Nevada and Eric Hovde of Wisconsin.
NBC News’ Bridget Bowman reports that McCormick updated his planned remarks to address Saturday’s attempted assassination on Trump. McCormick was seated in the front row of Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and took cover as the gunman opened fire.
There are also two incumbents facing re-election who will speak: Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas. Then there’s Jim Banks of Indiana, who’s seeking a solidly red open seat. And there’s Hung Cao of Virginia, who faces an uphill climb in the blue-leaning state, though recent polls suggest it could be more competitive than expected.
What the historically wide age gap between Trump and Vance means
By Steve Kornacki
In any election, the nomination of a 39-year-old for a major party’s national ticket would be noteworthy. But Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s age carries added significance because of just how much it sets him apart from the other candidates — and what that could mean electorally.
Not only is Vance the fifth-youngest vice presidential candidate ever fielded by either party, he’s also nearly four decades younger than his new ticket-mate, Donald Trump. The age gap between Trump and Vance is — by far — the largest in history between a White House and VP nominee.
For that matter, Vance isn’t even half the age of 81-year-old President Joe Biden, and he’s 20 years younger than Vice President Kamala Harris. That 20-year gap is one of the biggest ever recorded between major-party VP nominees.
In plain numbers, Vance’s age stands out in a way we’ve rarely encountered before. And it does so in a campaign in which Father Time has played an outsize role.
Concerns about Biden’s acuity were well-established even before his woeful June 27 debate performance. Back in February, when a CBS News/YouGov poll asked voters if they believed that Biden would serve out a full second term if re-elected, 44% said he wouldn’t. And in our new NBC News poll, conducted entirely after the debate, 65% of voters say they consider Biden’s physical and mental health to be a “major” concern. For Trump, the number is 35%, which is obviously much lower than Biden’s, but otherwise high historically.
On paper, there’s an opportunity here for Republicans. Broadly speaking, there is a wide appetite to move away from elderly political leaders. More than half (53%) of voters in a June CBS News/YouGov poll said the country would be better off if more young people held elected office. Among those under 30, that number swelled to 67%.
And it’s with those younger voters that Trump has already made measurable progress. In our new poll, he trails Biden by just 4 points with voters under 30 in a head-to-head matchup. In the 2020 exit poll, Biden carried that same group by 24.
The enticing possibility for Republicans is that Vance’s addition cements those gains and helps the ticket to make further inroads. Of course, as the cliché goes, age is only a number. And whether Vance actually comes across as new and youthful to voters remains to be seen.
That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
