Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona, speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) nominee for U.S. President Joe Biden, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 1, 2022.
Al Drago | Reuters
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced her decision on Friday to go away the Democrats and register as an independent, but many members of Congress have said the switch likely won’t impact the Democrats’ narrow control of the U.S. Senate.
The Democrats secured a 51-49 majority within the midterm elections, and Sen. Raphael Warnock’s reelection win Tuesday in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff boosted the party’s hopes that Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., can have less control over crucial bills. The pair have been wild cards for Democrats for the reason that party gained narrow control of the Senate from Republicans in 2020.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, said Sunday that he believes Sinema is a “corporate Democrat” who has “sabotaged enormously vital laws,” and he suspects her decision to change parties has to do along with her personal political ambitions.
“I believe it really has to do along with her political aspirations for the long run in Arizona, but for us, I believe nothing much has modified by way of the functioning of the U.S. Senate,” Sanders told CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview Sunday.
In a tweet Friday, Sinema said her decision to change parties was a “natural extension” of her service. The 46-year-old is the primary openly bisexual senator, and he or she began her profession as a Green Party activist specializing in LGBTQ rights. She switched to the Democratic Party in 2004 and was elected to the U.S. House in 2012.
“I do know this is admittedly hard for plenty of folks, especially in D.C., but what’s vital to me is to not be tethered by the partisanship that dominates politics today,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday.
Montana Sen. Jon Tester said Sunday that he was surprised Sinema made the change, but that it won’t functionally change anything within the Senate.
“I believe whether she’s a Democrat or a Republican, that actually doesn’t matter,” the Democrat told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The label doesn’t matter.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. was informed of Sinema’s plans to develop into independent on Thursday, and in an announcement Friday, he said Sinema asked to maintain her committee assignments. By keeping her assignments, Sinema signaled she intends to proceed to caucus with Democrats as an independent.
Sinema’s decision to change parties would prevent her from having to face a primary from the left, but she has not said whether she is going to seek a second term within the U.S. Senate.
