Array
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) announced Friday that she left the Democrat Party and registered as an independent, a move that drew approving reactions from her Republican colleagues and put a damper on what had been a celebratory week for Democrats following the Georgia runoff.
Sinema, who has become known for bucking party lines, prompted the range of responses with her announcement after Democrats had just secured a razor-thin 51–49 majority with their win in Georgia on Tuesday.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) told Breitbart News the Democrats’ loss of Sinema was “due to the extreme, hard left direction prevailing in their party.”
“I don’t blame her for not wanting to tie herself to Joe Biden’s policies that have left our southern border wide open, locked kids and parents out of schools, increased crime, and caused inflation to skyrocket,” Marshall said, adding that she was “the definition of a Maverick.”
Sinema conveyed in an op-ed in the Arizona Republic that her new party affiliation would not change her current approach to her job, which suggests she will continue to vote with Democrats most of the time. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Sinema would keep her committee assignments through the Democrat caucus and that Democrats would therefore not be subject to committee power-sharing that a 50–50 Senate would typically necessitate.
