White House: Our relationship with Sinema won’t change
Sinema #Sinema
The White House on Friday downplayed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to leave the Democratic Party as unlikely to affect the Biden administration’s relationship with the Arizona centrist.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized that Sinema’s move to become an independent would not impact the Democratic Senate majority and praised her for her work with the Biden administration, especially on infrastructure, same-sex marriage and gun safety.
“Sen. Sinema has been a key partner on some of the historic legislation President Biden has championed over the last 20 months,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “We have every reason to expect that we will continue to work successfully with her.”
In an interview with POLITICO published Friday morning, Sinema explained that she changed her affiliation because she “never really fit into a box of any political party.” The Arizona independent said she doesn’t anticipate her decision would change the Senate structure and indicated she expects to keep her committee assignments from Democrats. Sinema informed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) of her decision late Thursday.
Sinema said she has a “good relationship” with Biden. When asked if she wants Biden to run for reelection in 2024, Sinema declined to address it, calling it “a question for someone else.”
Sinema also declined to discuss her own plans for 2024, when she is up for reelection. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) previously made it clear that he was exploring a Democratic primary challenge. And Friday morning, a PAC that had been organizing as “Primary Sinema” vowed to go after her in the general election instead.
“Kyrsten Sinema told us what we’ve already known for years: she’s not a Democrat, and she’s simply out for herself,” the PAC said in a statement. “In one way, Sinema just made our jobs easier by bowing out of a Democratic primary she knew she couldn’t win. Now, we’ll beat her in the general election with a real Democrat.”
Sinema has played a central role in several significant bipartisan accomplishments in the past two years. She was the lead Democratic negotiator on last year’s bipartisan infrastructure package, teamed up with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to negotiate a gun safety package this year, and most recently worked with Republicans to pass legislation to protect same-sex marriage.
But the Arizonan has also ignited anger from the left, especially over her opposition to scrapping the legislative filibuster to pass Democrats’ election reform legislation and over her resistance to higher tax rates.
And her decision to become an independent drew praise from one prominent GOP-aligned voice: Jack McCain, son of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) — whom Sinema has long called her “personal hero” — tweeted that her move “makes a ton of sense” and is “very Arizona: bold, independent, outsized in influence and risky.”
Burgess Everett contributed.