Jeff Van Drew is nowhere to be seen. But his former staffers are making moves.
Six senior aides who resigned from the New Jersey Democrat's office after the revelation that he plans to become a Republican will soon be hired by Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone, according to two people familiar with the matter. Those aides will work on "short-term projects," for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, one of the people said.
Pallone, also a New Jersey Democrat, chairs that committee. Pallone said Monday that he would be requesting a refund from Van Drew's campaign for the $10,000 his political action committee contributed earlier this year.
Van Drew's imminent party switch, which was reportedly engineered with President Donald Trump's support, has put the New Jersey congressman in the middle of a political storm as the House prepares to vote Wednesday on Trump's impeachment.
Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday to say that Van Drew is "very popular" and "not easily replaceable." He has yet to formally endorse Van Drew, and it remains to be seen how hard Trump would campaign for the longtime Democrat in a Republican primary.
Van Drew himself has yet to comment publicly on his plans. He skipped House votes on Tuesday morning, and his fellow New Jersey Democrats said they hadn't seen him or heard from him so far this week.
Van Drew has said he opposes the Trump impeachment inquiry because it has "torn our country apart," and that in voters in 2020, not Congress, should decide Trump's fate. He was one of just two House Democrats who voted against the impeachment inquiry into Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
Five senior aides penned a joint resignation letter Sunday to Van Drew's chief of staff, Allison Murphy, saying his "decision to join the ranks of the Republican Party led by Donald Trump does not align with the values we brought to this job when we joined his office."
"We greatly respect Congressman Van Drew and are deeply saddened and disappointed by his decision," they wrote to chief of staff Allison Murphy. "As such, we can no longer in good conscience continue our service in the congressman's employ."
The letter was signed by legislative director Javier Gamboa, communications director Mackenzie Lucas, deputy chiefs of staff Edward Kaczmarski and Justin O'Leary, and legislative assistant Caroline Wood.
CeCe Doherty, director of constituency relations, also resigned on Sunday.
"Defeating Trump has and always will be the main goal for me," Doherty said. "It's the reason I got involved in politics. I could not, in good conscience, continue working in an office where mutual morals and values were no longer present."
Murphy is expected to remain in her role as chief of staff.
Van Drew's stance on impeachment eroded his support among Democrats in his district, and last week he received pressure from local party leaders urging him to vote yes on the articles of impeachment drafted by House Democrats.
The South Jersey district _ which covers New Jersey's Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem counties _ leans conservative but is very much a swing district. Slightly more than 50% of the district voted for Trump in 2016, while Barack Obama won it twice with 53% of the vote.
