CNN
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Arizona Sen. Kirsten Cinema will leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent, she said in an exclusive television interview with CNN’s Jake Tupper.
“I registered as an independent in Arizona.
“I never fit properly in a party box. I’ve never really tried it. I don’t want to,” she added. “Disconnecting myself from partisanship not only helps me stay true to who I am and how I operate, but also leaves a place where I belong to many people across the state and across the country who are fed up with partisanship. I think I will provide it.”
Cinema’s departure from the Democratic Party is unlikely to change the balance of power in the next Senate. Democrats end up with her narrow 51-to-49 majority, which includes her two independents, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Angus King of Maine.
Sanders and King formally held a caucuses with the Democrats, but Cinema refused to commit to doing the same. She said she expects to keep her commission assignments because she is doing so.
“When I go to work every day, it’s the same,” Cinema said. “I would still like to come to work and, if possible, serve on the same committees that I have served on, and continue to work well with my colleagues from both parties.
But Cinema’s decision to become politically independent has been a long one for the Arizona Senator, who began his political career as a member of the Green Party before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and U.S. Senate in 2018. make it official that you were independent. Cinema prides itself on being a thorn on the side of Democratic leaders, and her new nonpartisan affiliation will leave her even more free to accept a position against the grain in the Senate, but it doesn’t mean that she’s It raises new questions about how and what it means to be a Senate Democrat.
Cinema wrote an op-ed to the Arizona Republic released Friday, explaining her decision and noting that her approach in the Senate “upset the partisanship of both parties.”
“When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition victory than on improving the lives of Americans, it is ordinary Americans who lose,” Cinema wrote.
“That’s why I’m joining the growing number of Arizonans rejecting party politics by declaring independence from Washington’s broken partisan system.”
Cinema is seeking re-election in 2024, and Arizona liberals have already surfaced potential challengers, including Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Cinema declined to answer questions about her bid for re-election in an interview with Tupper, and that’s not her focus right now.
She also brushed aside any criticism she might face over her decision to leave the Democratic Party.
“I’m not worried about people who don’t like this approach,” Cinema said. “What worries me is that I continue to do what is right for my state. And there are certainly people who don’t like my approach. The proof is in the pudding.”
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Cinema informed the White House that she was leaving the Democratic Party, and Schumer was also aware of Cinema’s shocking announcement earlier Friday morning.
Mr Biden’s White House responded quietly Friday morning, claiming he expects to maintain a productive working relationship with the senator.
A White House official told CNN that the move “doesn’t change much” aside from cinema’s own re-election calculations.
“We have worked effectively with her on many major pieces of legislation, from CHIPS to the bipartisan infrastructure law,” the official said. The White House so far “has every reason to expect it to continue,” they added.
Cinema and West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin have, at various points over the past two years, thwarted President Joe Biden’s agenda during a time when Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and White House. It has infuriated liberals.
Cinema and Manchin used their influence in the current 50-50 Senate to allow one Democrat to derail the bill. In particular, it inspired his $3.5 trillion massive buildback his Better Bill, which Biden proposed last year. Cinema’s opposition to raising the corporate tax rate in the first round of negotiations on legislation last year particularly angered liberals.
Cinema was caught off guard by a surprising deal Manchin struck with Schumer on major health care and energy legislation in July, but she ultimately ended up with a smaller spending package that Biden signed into law before the election. supported the
Both Manchin and Cinema opposed changes to Senate filibuster rules, despite pressure from Senate colleagues and Biden. After voting against filibuster changes in January, the executive committee of the Arizona Democratic Party blamed cinema.
Cinema is in the midst of some significant bipartisan legislation passed since Biden took office. She pointed to her record as proof that her approach was an effective one.
“I have been able to lead historic efforts, from infrastructure to preventing gun violence, protecting religious liberty, helping LGBT families feel safe, CHIPs and science legislation, and our work on veterans issues. I am honored,” she said. she told CNN. “The list is really long. So I think the results speak for themselves. It’s okay if some people aren’t comfortable with that approach.”
The cinema announcement comes just days after Democratic Senator Rafael Warnock won re-election in Georgia, securing the 51st Senate seat, freeing Democrats from their reliance on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie voting.
Cinema did not answer questions about whether it would endorse Mr. Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
