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Sen. Kirsten Cinema speaks to reporters at the Capitol on February 5 in Washington, DC.
Arizona independent Sen. Kirsten Sinema announced her retirement at the end of her term on Tuesday, citing growing discrimination and mudslinging in Washington for her decision not to run for re-election.
“I believe in my approach, but it's not what America wants right now,” Sinema said in a video announcing his decision.
Sinema has long been a high-profile and influential figure in the Senate, often working to broker a compromise between Democrats and Republicans.
He formally left the Democratic Party in 2022 and registered as a political independent. tells CNN's Jake Tapper At the time, he said, “I never fit neatly into any party box. I never really tried. I don't want to.
“Removing me from the partisan structure — not just the reality of who I am and how I operate, I think it will give a place of belonging to many people across the state and across the country who are tired of discrimination,” he said in the interview.
Most recently, Sinema was a key negotiator for Oklahoma's Republican Senate. James Lankford and Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, worked for a major bipartisan border deal tied to a foreign aid package with aid to Ukraine and Ukraine. Israel.
Senate Republicans initially demanded that any foreign aid package be passed along with the border measures, but eventually turned against the border deal and blocked it amid sharp criticism from former President Donald Trump. The Senate passed a foreign aid package to Ukraine and Israel without border provisions, but House Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not plan to bring the bill to the floor and many House Republicans did not oppose more aid to Ukraine.
This story has been updated with additional updates.
