Why Wasn’t Kyrsten Sinema Consulted?

Punchbowl News: “This all begs an important question: Why wasn’t Sinema involved in cutting the deal? Schumer and Manchin have made clear that these negotiations were kept very private. Sinema and Manchin – referred to as “Sinemanchin” for a big part of this Congress – have been the two hardest to get to yes on bills crafted by the Democratic leadership and White House.”

“So why would Schumer ever cut a deal that she wasn’t a part of? The fact is that Sinema has gripes that are predictable, and the substance of her gripes are likewise predictable. Sinema hasn’t offered any complaints about being left out of the discussions, yet not including her clearly could cause problems on the other side.

“Sinema has long said that her focus was on making sure that any policies adopted by Democrats don’t worsen inflation, and she’s made clear that dealing with climate change a major priority.”

“Democrats noted privately that Sinema was consulted extensively on major portions of this package, including the Medicare prescription drug pricing negotiations, during previous rounds of talks. That was until Schumer and Manchin did this final deal.”