Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema calls her party's two-track legislative approach an 'ineffective stunt'
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Saturday came out strong against her party's decision — one backed by President Biden — to delay a vote on the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure bill until their larger, more sweeping reconciliation package is ready to go.
The centrist Sinema is not a fan of tying the two pieces of legislation together, as she reiterated in Saturday's statement. She called the dual-track approach "an ineffective stunt" and said she has "never, and would never, agree to any bargain that would hold one piece of legislation hostage to another."
While she didn't mention them by name, Sinema also appeared to take aim at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). "Over the course of this year, Democratic leaders have made conflicting promises that could not be kept — and have, at times, pretended that differences of opinion within our party did not exist," she said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The statement doesn't necessarily mean Sinema won't eventually reach an agreement with her colleagues on a scaled-down reconciliation bill, but it also probably isn't raising too many spirits during a contentious time within the party, either.
It's also worth noting that Sinema wasn't the only Democratic senator to express disappointment in how things have played out.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Microsoft pursues digital intelligence ‘aligned to human values’ in shift from OpenAIUNDER THE RADAR The iconic tech giant is jumping into the AI game with a bold new initiative designed to place people first in the search for digital intelligence
-
Sudoku medium: November 7, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Codeword: November 7, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Is Mike Johnson rendering the House ‘irrelevant’?Talking Points Speaker has put the House on indefinite hiatus
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
