MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Arizona's Senators Agree On One Thing Today - Their Swimming Colleague Was "Absolutely Irresponsible"

11:05am: Arizona's two Senators agree about at least one thing: their colleague was "absolutely irresponsible" for using the Senate gym and pool yesterday as he was awaiting his Covid-19 test results. Confronted with the news about Rand Paul's Sunday workout, Kyrsten Sinema (D) took to Twitter - a familiar venue for her during this pandemic crisis - to strongly denounce it. "I’ve never commented about a fellow Senator’s choices/actions. Never once. This, America, is absolutely irresponsible. You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus."

Last night, Martha McSally (R) tweeted her complete agreement. "I couldn't agree more @kyrstensinema. As we ask all Americans to sacrifice their livelihoods and alter their behavior to save lives, we must ourselves model appropriate #coronavirus behavior. No one is too important to disregard guidance to self-quarantine pending test results."

11:00am: Senator Sinema's explanation for her "no" vote: "We must get 2 things done in this legislative package: 🔘Help small businesses, which are 94% of all Arizona businesses 🔘 Funding for our health system so we can take care of Arizonans with coronavirus I'm urging Congressional leaders to get this done immediately for Arizona.

We must get 2 things done in this legislative package:

🔘Help small businesses, which are 94% of all Arizona businesses

🔘 Funding for our health system so we can take care of Arizonans with coronavirus

I'm urging Congressional leaders to get this done immediately for Arizona.

— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) March 23, 2020

Still "No Deal"; Arizona Senators Again Split Along Party Lines On Moving Forward With 3rd Coronavirus Relief Package
10:55am: A new cloture vote this morning - still taking place - is yielding the same results. Arizona's Senators split along party lines, and the vote is not going to receive the necessary 60 votes to close debate. The vote in progress is currently 39-31.

Arizona's two Senators both voted their party lines on whether or not to move forward with Congress's 3rd coronavirus relief package. The cloture motion needed 60 votes; it failed 47-47.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for blowing up a deal he believed had been reached, while Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed McConnell for moving forward before the deal was reached. Schumer says the $1.4T package still has "many problems."

Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D) voted against closing debate, while Sen. Martha McSally (R) voted "aye".

If you would like to show your appreciation for Arizona's Politics reporting, please consider donating to our pool to support OTHER journalism-related nonprofits.  

We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.