Sinema Is Blunt About Democratic Criticism

One-term senator leaves with her former party upset about NLRB vote
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 22, 2024 10:00 AM CST
Sinema Is Blunt About Democratic Criticism
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema questions Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifying before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in October 2023.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Democrats may not miss Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who suggested on her way out the Capitol door that the sentiment is mutual. The one-term senator left the party outraged this month when she—along with outgoing Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin—blocked an attempt to lock up Democratic control of the National Labor Relations Board for the first two years of President-elect Trump's term, per Axios. Both senators voted no on a procedural vote to allow the renomination of Lauren McFerran, a move that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called "a direct attack on working people." In an interview published Friday, Sinema responded to the criticism by saying she just doesn't "give a s---."

"I know some people think I'm, like, this enigma or whatever, but I don't think that's true at all," Sinema told Semafor. "I think, maybe, this is a place where sometimes people say things that they don't mean. I am not one of those people. ... I think I'm highly predictable." Sinema has disappointed Democrats before. She was elected as one of them but left the party after regular uproars over her blocking legislative priorities of President Biden—though she worked on behalf of others—and supporting the Senate filibuster. She's now a registered independent, per the Hill, and says she "never fit into any party box."

Sinema returned to the filibuster on Wednesday in her farewell speech on the Senate floor, saying that getting rid of it would be a "devolution," per the Arizona Republic. "You don't have to burn down the rules and the norms to achieve what you want," she said. "You can just do the hard work." Sinema told Semafor she's through with politics. Her seat will become Democratic again when Ruben Gallego succeeds her next month. The party's criticism over the NLRB was directed at Manchin, as well. "Shortchanging workers is a bad way to leave," Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan posted on social media. (More Kyrsten Sinema stories.)

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