What does Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s defection from the Democrats mean for the party, control of the Senate and President Biden’s policy agenda? Sinema said last week that she is registering as an independent, though she will keep her committee assignments. Her announcement came just as Democrats were celebrating Senator Raphael Warnock’s reelection in Georgia, which gave Democrats 51 seats in the upper chamber. Ryan Grim of The Intercept says that while Sinema’s change in party affiliation will have “no practical effect” in the Senate, it will head off a primary challenge in 2024. Alejandra Gomez, the executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA Arizona, says Sinema has betrayed the Democratic base that helped propel her to office in 2018. “She has sold her vote to the highest bidder, cozying up to special interests and Big Pharma,” says Gomez.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.