TUCSON, Ariz. — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., wasn’t with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week when he toured the border in her own backyard. But next time, she should be.
On Thursday, the newly elected House speaker traveled with four GOP freshmen to get a firsthand look at the crisis along the southern border in Arizona. McCarthy shared in an exclusive interview with The Federalist that the Arizona senator wasn’t invited on this trip, but she’s more than welcome on the next.
“I didn’t invite any senators,” McCarthy said of his first border tour since taking his new post. When asked whether he would ever bring her, McCarthy said “gladly.”
“I’d invite her,” the speaker nodded.
A bicameral border tour with the Republican House speaker could be a political goldmine for Sinema, who is up for re-election in 2024. A Democrat senator who’s framed herself as a moderate in an upper chamber that’s dominated by far-left interests, Sinema could not only help her chances for another six-year term but also help get something done — if she actually cared about the border.
In December, Sinema publicly rebuked her own party and declared herself an independent for the remaining two years of her first term. Functionally, the announcement changed nothing on Capitol Hill. The Arizona lawmaker still caucuses with Democrats, who enjoy an expanded majority in the Senate after the November midterms. Politically, however, the move empowers Sinema to buck her own party more often in a conference where
