Senator Kyrsten Sinema no longer considers herself a Democrat, telling Politico that she now identifies as an Independent, making the small Democratic majority in the Senate even smaller. Democrats held a 51-49 lead Following Rev. Raphael Warnock’s run-off win against Herschel Walker, which now appears to be 50-49 with Sinema as an Independent.
In a statement to NewsNation, Sinema’s office confirmed “she intends to maintain her committee assignments from the Democrats. She did not prior, and will not now, attend caucus meetings.”
The Arizona Senator revealed the news in a 45-minute interview with Politico’s Burgess Everett, who wrote:
In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator told POLITICO that she will not caucus with Republicans and suggested that she intends to vote the same way she has for four years in the Senate. “Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,” she said.Provided that Sinema sticks to that vow, Democrats will still have a workable Senate majority in the next Congress, though it will not exactly be the neat and tidy
51 seats they assumed. They’re expected to also have the votes to control Senate committees. And Sinema’s move means Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — a pivotal swing vote in the 50-50 chamber the past two years — will hold onto some but not all of his outsized influence in the Democratic caucus.Sinema would not address whether she will run for reelection in 2024, and informed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of her decision on Thursday.“I don’t anticipate that anything will change about the Senate structure,” Sinema said, adding that some of the exact mechanics of how her switch affects the chamber is “a question for Chuck Schumer … I intend to show up to work, do the same work that I always do. I just intend to show up to work as an independent.”
Sinema recently worked with Republican Senator Thom Tillis for a bipartisan framework immigration reform deal that is trying to get passed in the final days of the lame-duck session.