Sinema faces blowback for minimum wage vote; long-term damage unclear

WASHINGTON – Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said she still believes the Senate should take up a higher minimum wage, but that didn’t keep critics from lighting into her after her Friday vote to keep the higher wage out of the latest pandemic relief package. Sinema was one of seven Democrats who joined Republicans to reject an amendment to the American Rescue Plan that would have raised the wage to $15 an hour over five years. That move was backed by the House and the White House, but rejected in…