News from the Financial Associated Press on December 10 (Editor Zhao Hao)On Friday (December 9), local time, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema (Kyrsten Sinema) announced on social media that she would change her party from the Democratic Party to an independent, or that she would have a negative impact on the two parties in the Senate. The layout has an impact.
Sinema said that because Arizonans reject partisan politics, she decided to “break away from Washington’s broken partisan system” and formally register as an independent Arizona senator.
In a video statement, Sinema acknowledged that she knew her approach was rare in Washington and could upset supporters in the state on both sides of the aisle, “but it was a way of delivering lasting results for Arizona. “
(Source: Senator Sinema Twitter)
Or Complicate Democrats’ Legislative Agenda
The timing of Sinema’s transition to independence is delicate. On Tuesday (December 6), only three days ago, Democratic Georgia Senate candidate Warnock defeated the Republican candidate, giving Democrats a total of 51 votes in the Senate, ahead of Republicans’ 49 votes, and taking control of the Senate. .
At that time, many media believed that the 51-49 Senate structure would weaken the influence of West Virginia’s centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (Joe Manchin), and finally make President Biden’s administration and Congress’ legislation smoother.
But Sinema’s “rebellion” may complicate the Democratic Party’s legislative agenda in the next two years.
Still, as an independent, Sinema still plans to caucus with other Democratic senators, like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Maine Sen. Angus King, administration officials said.
Repeatedly blocked key matters with Manchin
Since the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Sinema and Joe Manchin have often been seen as centrist Democratic senators who have sometimes opposed key Democratic legislative priorities, giving them a huge role in shaping Democratic decision-making.
Last year, under the obstruction of Manchin and Sinema, the $150 billion “Clean Power Performance Plan” (CEPP) that the White House had hoped for was stranded before COP26. Biden, who went to the meeting “empty-handed”, was questioned and other American The president is also “talking but not doing”.
In August, Sinema almost single-handedly blocked several proposed tax increases in the Inflation Cut Act. In the end, the bill retained only a 15% corporate tax on companies with annual profits over $1 billion and a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks. ‘
However, on the whole, Sinema will still support the Democrats’ position in the Senate most of the time. The polling site noted that she voted for Biden’s legislation 93 percent of the time.