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Sinema delivers a last ‘fuck you’ to Democrats on her way out the door

After missing votes, Sinema showed up to scuttle plans to keep a pro-union Democrat on the National Labor Relations Board.
Image: Kyrsten Sinema
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has not shown up for work very often since announcing her decision to not seek reelection. Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

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Just days away from her U.S. Senate exit, controversial Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema delivered a final blow to the party she has consistently screwed over and abandoned.

After missing a series of votes, Sinema finally showed up for work Wednesday to vote on a potential nominee for the National Labor Relations Board, which protects workers' rights. And right on trend, Sinema’s decision torpedoed Democratic plans.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, hoped to nominate Lauren McFerran, the NLRB’s current chair, to another five-year term. That would ensure the five-member board included three pro-union Democrats through at least 2026, covering the first two years of Donald Trump’s second term.

But of all the days to finally pop into work, Sinema chose Wednesday, voting to deny McFerran’s nomination alongside fellow swing-voter and Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Both Sinema and Manchin are leaving the body after this year. The nomination failed by one vote.

If McFerran had been confirmed, Democrats would have had control of the board until 2026.

Several unions expressed disappointment in Sinema's vote. The local chapter of UNITE Here, which represents hospitality workers in the state, blasted Sinema in a statement.

"Once more she has chosen to turn her back on the working people who elected her," the organization said in a statement provided by spokesperson Victoria Stahl. "It is a sad day for working people in Arizona and across the nation."

April Verrett, the president of the Service Employees International Union, called the move a “missed opportunity to ensure the NLRB remains an impartial agency.” Meanwhile, Anti-Sinema organizations and other Arizonans have expressed a lack of surprise but continuing disappointment at the Senator’s actions.

“Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has missed every vote since the Thanksgiving break but came back today to vote against workers,” one social media user wrote. “Class act. You won’t be missed.”

The Replace Sinema PAC, which worked to remove Sinema from office, was unsurprised by the news on social media. “Thanks Kyrsten,” the organization wrote, “this is exactly why we voted you out.”

Quiet quitting

Sinema’s popularity has been tanking for several years.

One-time supporters and Democrats are unhappy about her refusal to vote to get rid of the filibuster, the viral “thumbs down” moment to scuttle a minimum wage increase and her eventual decision to leave her party. Sinema was once even followed into a bathroom at Arizona State University by angry constituents.

In March, reading the tea leaves of a likely primary challenge by Rep. Ruben Gallego, Sinema announced that she wouldn’t be running again. Gallego handily beat Republican challenger Kari Lake to take Sinema’s seat.

Since that you-can’t-fire-me-I-quit moment, Sinema has essentially quiet-quit her job in the Senate. Her Senate attendance has tanked since April, and according to GovTrack, she’s missed a third of roll call votes taken since the spring. Her attendance ranks near the bottom of her colleagues in the Senate. This week alone, she failed to attend three votes to confirm district court judges.

Before voting to neuter the NLRB, the last time Sinema voted was before Thanksgiving, when she voted to confirm Sharad Harshad Desai as a U.S. district judge in Arizona.

But while she’s been absent from votes, Sinema has used the remainder of her campaign money on trips to France, Japan and the United Kingdom. Between September and July, her campaign billed $216,000 for her travel. Her campaign also paid another $152,000 for security-related expenses.

Phoenix New Times asked Sinema’s office why she hasn’t been showing up to votes and why she voted against McFerran’s nomination, despite previously supporting her nomination in 2020. Her office has not responded.

“Still not bothering to do her job right up until the very end,” wrote the Replace Sinema PAC on social media. “We love this for her.”