Kyrsten Sinema Goes Independent!

A Karen in the Democratic caucus.

So now, here we go!

Arizona senator announces she will be an independent. She is the first openly bisexual senator elected to office. 

Democrats have not commented on her decision but I am guessing she will be getting death threats and relentless heckling by protesters from this point.

So there will be 48 Democrats and three independents. 

Democrats won control of the Senate only to have two distractions ruin it. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) have been thorns in the side of President Joe Biden and they will continue this noise for the next two years.

“I’ve registered as an Arizona independent. I know some people might be a little bit surprised by this, but actually, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Sinema said in a Thursday interview with Tapper in her Senate office.

“I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried. I don’t want to,” she added. “Removing myself from the partisan structure – not only is it true to who I am and how I operate, I also think it’ll provide a place of belonging for many folks across the state and the country, who also are tired of the partisanship.”

It clears a path for Rep. Ruben Gellego (D-AZ) to be the sacrificial lamb and official nominee. 

Sinema announced on Friday, that she will remain caucused with the Democrats. 

Had she flipped to the Republicans, there would be punishment.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would strip her of her committee assignments had she decided to become a Republican and join their conference.

Both Manchin and Sinema also opposed changes to the Senate’s filibuster rules despite pressure from their Senate colleagues and Biden to change them. After a vote against filibuster changes in January, the Arizona Democratic Party’s executive board censured Sinema.

Hiding from reality.

Sinema has been in the middle of several significant bipartisan bills that were passed since Biden took office. She pointed to that record as evidence that her approach has been an effective one.

“I’ve been honored to lead historic efforts, from infrastructure, to gun violence prevention, to protecting religious liberty and helping LGBT families feel secure, to the CHIPs and science bill to the work we’ve done on veterans’ issues,” she told CNN. “The list is really long. And so I think that the results speak for themselves. It’s OK if some people aren’t comfortable with that approach.”

Sinema’s announcement comes just days after Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock won reelection in Georgia, securing Democrats a 51st Senate seat that frees them from reliance on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote.

Sinema has a feud with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). He vows to defeat her in 2024 if a strong challenger comes forth. 

Sinema, Sanders and Manchin are considered headaches to the Democrats. They have often been opposing the mainstream platforms of the Schumer and Biden agenda. 

Biden has also vented about them in private.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is the first openly lesbian in the Senate. She and Sinema did vote for the Respect for Marriage Act.

Sinema did vote for Kentaji Brown Jackson, the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Biden Infrastructure Spending. She opposed raising the minimum wage and extending the child credit for working families.