In the latest sign of liberal frustration with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema over the budget impasse, Rep. Mark Pocan is saying she has brought nothing 'but a designer purse' to leadership negotiations.
Pocan, a Wisconsin member of the substantial House progressive faction, tore into Sinema as the Arizona Democrat once again held a key role in Capitol negotiations, after shuttling repeatedly to the White House this week.
Some progressives are boiling over at the first-term senator, even as the cut more slack to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has put a number on what he is willing to support in a major reconciliation bill, and called for rolling back some of the Trump tax cuts.
The frustration even as Democrats appear to have made at least some progress in narrowing differences and moving toward agreement on an overall price tag for the president's $3.5 trillion reconciliation plan being renegotiated.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., leaves a private meeting with Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese, and other White House officials on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) says she has brought nothing 'but a designer purse' to leadership negotiations.
'I think those negotiations have started now, so… this has probably helped some things move loose,' Pocan told Forbes, in reference to Manchin's printed proposal, which emerged Thursday.
Then he dug into Sinema, who got four White House meetings over two days.
'Half of Manchinema has now shown us something. Waiting for the other half to show us something other than a designer purse,' he quipped.
His comment came after fellow progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) ripped Sinema this week.
'The president has already won me over. I'm on his side, as by the way is 99 per cent of the Democratic party,' the lawmaker fumed on CNN. 'We're willing to negotiate,' he said. 'Literally one senator – one Senator, Kyrsten Sinema – is holding up the will of the entire Democratic Party,' he said.
