Congress 'worse than it was before': Sen. Kyrsten Sinema warns of extreme partisanship

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema warned the Phoenix business community Tuesday that partisanship by both major parties will mean the nation’s laws, like its courts, will “ricochet” from one side to the other and she urged them to support those who they can mostly agree with on issues.

In 45-minute remarks, Sinema, I-Ariz., claimed significant credit for several key pieces of legislation and offered a bleak assessment of the impulses of the Democrats and Republicans.

Her sit-down conversation with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry began and ended with a standing ovation and her remarks sometimes sounded like a valedictory for a decade in Washington, D.C., that will end when she leaves the Senate in January.

But it began with a warning.

She urged the business crowd on hand at the Arizona Biltmore hotel to get involved and “ensure that reasonable people who want to get things done get elected. You must also be willing to push back against dangerous candidates and elected officials who charge to the extremes and engage in partisan warfare for its own sake.”

Kyrsten Sinema remains mum on Arizona Senate race endorsement

Sinema didn’t mention those challenging for her seat: Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Republicans former news anchor Kari Lake and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. She has not endorsed anyone to succeed her, and Tuesday’s comments didn’t suggest she was close to doing so.

Sinema strongly backed her decision to stand firm on preserving the legislative filibuster, a decision that contributed significantly to many Democrats losing support for her. She pointed to the erosion of the filibuster on judicial confirmation votes involving the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Each erased portions of the 60-vote threshold for proceeding and helped push the Senate deeper into partisan corners as American faith in the judicial system has plummeted, she said.

“We don’t have a Supreme Court that’s right in the middle. We have a Supreme Court that is tilting to one side, and it will be like that for decades. And then, because we don’t have a filibuster, it will tilt the other direction, so there will be this ricochet. There will be these big landmark decisions that are repealed or created, and it will be ricochet, ricochet, back and forth. … You’ll see this ricocheting in American policy from the courts.

“If you eliminate the filibuster in the Senate, you will see that same ricocheting in legislation. It will ricochet every time a new administration takes office. Here’s a news flash for both political parties: When you get power, you will not keep it. It will change. The power will always shift.”

Exiting senator blasts current political landscape

Sinema offered a blunt, dour view of Congress as she prepares to exit.

“It is worse than it was before,” she said. “We’re currently living in an environment where partisanship is at an all-time high. … What’s really changed is that both parties have chosen to nominate folks farther at the edges of the political spectrum.”

Both parties believe the other represents an existential threat to democracy, she said.

When she began at the Arizona Legislature 20 years ago, “it was more reasonable,” Sinema said.

As she has done on other occasions, including her March announcement that she wouldn’t seek a second term, Sinema hinted at the political pressure that drove her to quit the Democratic Party in 2022.

“What I think is missing from our current political climate … is we, as a people, don’t provide much air cover for folks who are doing the hard work,” she said. “When someone steps way out to do something big, there’s not a mechanism to protect those folks.”

That was newly evident again with the estrangement from Republicans for Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who negotiated a border security bill with Sinema and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., that failed in February when the GOP walked away from their deal at the urging of former President Donald Trump.

Senate Democrats tried and failed to pass the measure again last week in a move that Sinema also rejected as little more than partisan theatrics.

Sinema cited her prominent role with other senators to broker deals that became laws dealing with infrastructure, gun violence and reshoring advanced manufacturing.

“By standing up to partisan, short-sighted ideas, I protected our country’s economic growth and competitiveness and kept taxes low during a time of rampant inflation,” she said. “I am sure that Arizona had a voice in Washington delivering unprecedented resources for Arizona and the West’s historic drought. These solutions matter. They make an impact in the lives of everyday Americans, and this is how government should work.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Congress 'worse than it was before': Sen. Sinema warns of partisan pull