When Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema was one of the three Democrats voting with Republicans today to permit the Trump Administration to repeal the Clean Power Plan, it was not the first time she crossed the aisle on the regulatory plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
The 41-53 vote in the Senate today was a failed attempt to stop the EPA from repealing the Obama era measure. The three amigos – Sinema, Alabama Senator Doug Jones, and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin – were the only three Democrats to allow the repeal. (Susan Collins (R-ME) was the only GOP Senator to vote in the minority.)
Sinema demonstrated consistency in her vote. The record shows that she also voted against the Clean Power Plan in 2015, while she was in the House. That resulted in much opposition from environmental groups.
Today, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) cast the vote in stark terms: “Our Republican colleagues have a choice: They can either stop the rollback of life-saving environmental protections, or they can side with energy companies.”
Sinema spokesperson Hannah Hurley provided Arizona’s Politics with the following statement tonight: “Kyrsten voted against repealing the Affordable Clean Energy plan today for the same reason she voted against repealing the Clean Power Plan in 2015. We need bipartisan solutions that protect our air, land, and water and provide flexibility and certainty for Arizona families.”
Kyrsten Sinema serves one useful purpose. When they add up the number of Democrats and the number of Republicans in the Senate she will be counted as a Democrat. This might help to get rid of the Republican majority in 2020.
Aside from that her vote will always be in question.
She’s the only Democrat I know that also somehow qualifies as a RINO.
FSNT