Kyrsten Sinema has competed in three triathlons and regularly pushes through muscle pain and fatigue during the spin cycle classes she teaches on Capitol Hill. But the Arizona Democrat is now facing a different type of grueling test: whether she will buck the progressive wing of her party and stand by her vow to uphold the Senate filibuster even if it imperils top Democratic priorities she supports.
Arizona Republican lawmakers aren’t making it easy. The entire GOP delegation in the state legislature is ramping up pressure on the first-term senator to keep her pledge. Last week, they signed a letter calling on Sinema to protect the filibuster and to refuse any Democratic efforts aimed at weakening it.
Sinema has time to come out strong for policies popular across Arizona
Kyrsten Sinema
On March 5, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema caused an uproar with her vote against the inclusion of the $15 minimum wage increase in the Covid relief bill. Her exaggerated thumbs down enraged many, who saw the demonstration as inappropriately “gleeful” when denying a living wage to 839,000 Arizonans and millions of Americans whose lives could’ve been improved with the provision.
Abigail Jackson
Sinema argued that her vote wasn’t about wages, but about Senate procedure. According to Sinema, a higher minimum wage didn’t belong in the Covid relief bill. Instead, she says, the Senate should tackle it through a separate, standalone bill. But this is not the whole story.
Playing games, whether it be team sports, video games, or board games with friends and family, can be one of the greatest joys in life. Because people have always relished
Commentary: How filibuster carries centuries of baggage
Alfredo Torres Jr., For the Express-News
April 5, 2021
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell denounces efforts to abolish the filibuster, saying that he would use procedures to turn the Senate into a “100-car pileup, nothing moving.” The filibuster rule should be eliminated because of its current abuse and disgraceful past.Chip Somodevilla /Getty Images
“Words matter” is a cliché being tossed about these days. But, really, they do matter.
By now, the phrase “filibuster” has conjured up images of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell doubling down and demanding Democrats do not tamper with the rule. And McConnell, being McConnell, went a bit further, threatening a “scorched earth” policy if Democrats kill the filibuster. It seems no one has told McConnell that the GOP no longer has real power.