Heinrich, Udall call on Franken to resign

The only requirements are that it is a Minnesota resident, at least 30 years old, and a US citizen for at least nine years.

MPR had reported that its source, an unnamed Democratic official, had spoken to Franken and his staff separately.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) was the first of Franken’s fellow Senate Democrats to call for his resignation and was quickly followed by Democratic Sens. Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate.

Al Franken appears to place his hands on model and radio host Leeann Tweeden’s breasts in this photo released by Tweeden.

Franken scheduled an announcement for Thursday, though his office tweeted Wednesday evening that he had not made “a final decision” on resigning.

A former Democratic congressional aide said Al Franken tried to forcibly kiss her after a taping of his radio show in 2006, three years before he became a USA senator.

He said he is signing onto a bill by Sen.

The Senate Ethics Committee announced last week that it had opened a “preliminary inquiry” into allegations that Franken groped, forcibly kissed and engaged in other sexually inappropriate behavior with multiple women.

“I agree the time has come for Senator Franken to step aside”, Mr. His office offered no further details in a brief statement on Wednesday.

The decision means Gov. Mark Dayton will name Franken’s successor, who will serve until the midterm elections in 2018.

“It seems like every day a new man is being accused of sexual misconduct”, he began on “The Late Show”. But this moment of reckoning about our friends and colleagues who have been accused of sexual misconduct is necessary, and it is painful. “It’s going to take a long time for me to regain people’s trust, but I hope that starting work today that I can start to do that”.

But with accusations mounting, many Democrats – ever mindful of how the scandal could impact their efforts to gain congressional seats in next year’s mid-term elections – turned on their colleague. Many observers were surprised this didn’t happen sooner, given an ongoing national spotlight on issues like sexual harassment and assault. That represents nearly half the 16 female Democratic senators.

“But the conversation we are having now is only the tip of the iceberg”, he said.