Menendez Bribery Trial Complicates Judicial Confirmation Votes

Robert Menendez’s bribery trial could complicate party-line votes for some of President Joe Biden’s most controversial judicial nominees in the Senate chamber narrowly controlled by Democrats.

The Manhattan federal court trial began on Monday and is expected to run for six to seven weeks, pulling the New Jersey senator away from Capitol Hill as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has vowed not to support judicial nominees who have no backing from Republicans. Democrats hold a 51-49 majority.

“Every vote counts,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters Tuesday. “So I can tell you that we measure ...