December 9, 2022
Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema announced she’s leaving the party!
What?
What does that mean?
Do democrats still have the majority?
So many questions. I’m going to report everything we know so far.
This morning Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona released this op-ed in the Arizona Republic newspaper saying she is now officially registered as an Independent in her state. She says doesn’t believe in partisan extremism on either side of the aisle and that she wants to find a middle ground.
But does this mean Democrats still have the 51 member majority?
Well, technically. Yes. According to Sinema, nothing is going to change. She wants to still keep her committee assignments – which are assigned by the democrats. And though she wouldn’t explicitly say she is going to caucus with the Democrats she clearly said she won’t caucus with the Republicans. She said she will continue to vote the way she’s voted since she joined the Senate, which is generally with President Biden except on a few notable exceptions.
It’s also worth noting there are two other Independents who are already part of the Democrat Senate majority. Of course, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.
We’re going to have to see how this all shakes out in the coming weeks and months.
Read Senator Sinema’s OpEd about why she is now an Independent here.
