But Congress has typically expelled members convicted of serious crimes, and Menendez’s are particularly egregious because they concern him using his powerful perch as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to assist foreign governments and enrich himself. Nadine Menendez’s trial was postponed because of breast-cancer treatments, and Bob Menendez’s defense team sought to excuse him by pinning the crimes on her. Though Menendez lost the Democratic primary for his Senate seat earlier this year to Representative Andy Kim, he has filed to run as an independent.