Kyrsten Sinema's staff describe 'a dizzying array of do's and don'ts' in 37-page memo: report

22 December 2022

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona sent shockwaves through Capitol Hill when, on December 9, she announced that she had left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent. Since that bombshell announcement, countless articles have focused on the possible repercussions for the Democratic Party and Arizona’s 2024 U.S. Senate race.

But an article written by the Daily Beast’s Sam Brodey and published on December 22 focuses on a different Sinema-related subject: what it’s like working for her. The Beast, Brodey reports, has obtained a 37-page memo that was written by members of her staff and offers employees elaborate details on her many likes and dislikes.

“Always have a ‘room temperature’ bottle of water on hand for her at all times,” Brodey writes. “Make sure you get her groceries. And book her a weekly, hour-long massage. These are just a few of the tasks, framed in a dizzying array of do’s and don’ts, that have fallen to the staffers for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), according to an internal memo obtained by The Daily Beast.”

Brodey continues, “The 37-page memo is intended as a guide for aides who set the schedule for and personally staff Sinema during her workdays in Washington and Arizona. And while the document is mostly just revealing of Sinema’s exceptionally strong preferences about things like air travel — preferably not on Southwest Airlines, never book her a seat near a bathroom, and absolutely never a middle seat — Sinema’s standards appear to go right up to the line of what Senate ethics rules allow, if not over.”

According to Brodey, the memo “explains that the senator’s executive assistant must contact Sinema at the beginning of the work week in Washington to ‘ask if she needs groceries,’ and copy both the scheduler and chief of staff on the message to ‘make sure this is accomplished.’” And the memo, Brodey adds, “also dictates that if the internet in Sinema’s private apartment fails, the executive assistant ‘should call Verizon to schedule a repair’ and ensure a staffer is present to let a technician inside the property.”

The Beast discussed the memo with Craig Holman, an ethics expert for the group Public Citizen. According to Holman, it is a violation of Senate ethics rules to ask staffers to conduct personal tasks. But Hannah Hurley, a Sinema spokesperson, told the Beast that the senator’s office “does not require staff to perform personal errands.”

According to the memo, Sinema has some very healthy habits: She drinks plenty of water and is religious about exercising. The memo reads, “KS drinks A LOT of water. Make sure to always have a room temperature bottle of water for her, whether she is in the office, at call time, or in someone's car. When someone is picking KS up from the airport, they should ALWAYS have a bottle of water for her.”

Sinema, according to the memo, dislikes air travel but does it out of necessity. The memo reads, “KS does not like to fly. It is your job to make her as comfortable as possible on each flight.”

A former aide, interviewed on condition of anonymity, believes that Sinema’s many expectations slowed down her staff’s productivity.

“When I look back,” the aide told the Beast, “it’s unbelievable the amount of time staffers spent just to accommodate her.”

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