Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's announcement that she's changing her party affiliation came as a surprise, but "functionally, I don't think it changes a thing," Sen. Jon Tester, the only Democrat elected to statewide office in red-state Montana, said Sunday.
"I think we'll continue doing the same thing we were doing, whether she is independent or part of the Democratic caucus because she is going to continue to caucus with the Democrats," Tester told NBC "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd about the Arizona senator. "We'll still have the committee structures we've had before, as far as having one more Democrat…I look forward to working with her as I have in the past to try to get good things done for the country."
Sinema, who has come under fire from Democrats over her refusals to end the filibuster, among other decisions, is also facing slams from Arizonans who call her act selfish.
Tester, however, said he disagrees that the senator is acting selfishly, noting that he's had good experiences working with her on several projects, including the bipartisan infrastructure bill this past year when they were two of the 5 Democrats working on the measure.
"We argued and we fought and we came up with a pretty darned good bill," said Tester. I think that is the process, Chuck, you know that your enemy one day is your friend tomorrow and vice versa and it is about keeping relationships in Washington, D.C., if you're going to get things done."
Sinema, he said, knows that, and "whether she is a Democrat or a Republican, that doesn't really matter.
"What matters is you got to have somebody in Washington, D.C., that wants to get things done and move things forward," he added.
He added that it will be up to Arizona voters to decide if they'll reelect Sinema, but he thinks she's served the country well.
Tester and Sinema also share the same position on keeping the filibuster, and he told Todd that he believes the legislative measure "does serve an important purpose. It is one of the things that makes the Senate different than the House, and thank God for that."
Meanwhile, Tester said he feels comfortable with being a Democrat in Montana, noting that as a farmer and being from a farming family, the Democratic politics of late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt saved their family's business.
Tester also discussed his chances for reelection in 2024, saying that he'll be discussing the matter over the holidays but he feels "good" about his chances.
"People are going to come after me," he said. "They have in the past. Nonetheless, that's politics and we'll get through it and hopefully be successful come November of 2024."
Also on Sunday, Tester called the potential upcoming battle over whether to raise the debt ceiling an "insane situation," after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he wants to raise it with a bipartisan majority vote.
"For Republicans or anybody to hold up the debt ceiling vote is political malpractice," he said. "It will raise interest rates across the board…you cannot expect to compete with a place like China looking to replace us as an economic power in the world if we're going to have these silly fights over debt ceilings."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.