Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who’s expected to take over the Foreign Relations Committee following the indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), still isn’t calling for the resignation of the New Jersey Democrat but said the full conference will discuss next steps during a weekly lunch Wednesday.

“Our caucus will be talking about it today,” Cardin said at an event hosted by The Washington Post. “I’m going to reserve how I feel we need to proceed until after that caucus, but make no mistake about it, it’s a major challenge for us in the United States Senate.”

Cardin, who previously took over as top Democrat following Menendez’ prior federal indictment, called the situation a “tragedy.”

Context: More than half of the Senate Democrats have now called for the resignation of Menendez following his indictment on bribery and other allegations.

Menendez appeared on Wednesday morning in New York for his arraignment on the charges. He’s vowed not to resign amid the latest charges.

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