Disgraced Sen. Don Meredith has resigned after acknowledging his sexual relationship with a teenage girl, but he’ll still receive an annual $25,000 pension.

Meredith announced his resignation in a statement Tuesday. The move effectively dodged a Senate vote on his fate, which could’ve happened Wednesday at the earliest.

"I am acutely aware that the upper chamber is more important than my moral failings," Meredith's statement reads. “This is a constitutional fight in which I will not engage."

Meredith is still entitled to a pension of $25,000 per year, based on his salary.

Former Senate speaker Leo Housakos told CTV’s Power Play that he thinks the government could take action to prevent that pension.

“I think he should not be benefitting from a pension, but that’s my personal opinion,” he said.

Meredith’s lawyer, Bill Trudell, said the $25,000 pension is not enough to support his family.

“So he will find employment elsewhere,” Trudell said. “He was a contributing member of the community prior to his appointment, and I think that probably he will engage with his community and go forward.”

Meredith decided to resign Tuesday morning after discussing options with his family, Trudell said. His resignation comes after a Senate ethics committee report last week recommended that the upper house begin the process of expulsion.

“I think that what happened is that the Senate committee has recommended that he be expelled, and I think that that was the general feeling, that that was going to happen no matter what,” Trudell said.

The Senate has never expelled one of its members. It’s still unclear whether the chamber has legal authority to do so, but the ethics committee accepted legal advice that suggested that Canada’s Senate shares the same power as the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, which can eject members.

Earlier this year, Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard issued a scathing report that said Meredith failed to uphold the "highest standards of dignity inherent to the position of senator."

Ricard’s report said Meredith had a relationship with a 16-year-old girl that included flirtatious online conversations, fondling and sexually explicit live videos. Ricard said Meredith and the girl had sex once shortly before she turned18 and twice afterwards.

Meredith has acknowledged the affair but said he did not have sexual intercourse with the girl, known only as Ms. M in the report, until she turned 18.

With files from The Canadian Press