PHOENIX (TND) — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., has reportedly spent more than $200,000 in taxpayer funds on private charter flights since 2020.
Sen. Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, took 11 such trips in the past four years, according to The Daily Beast. Five of them came in 2023, when she reportedly spent $116,000 on chartered planes. Nearly all of the flights were within Arizona for one to two-day trip, according to The Daily Beast.
"Arizonans know it can take hours to get from Prescott to Yuma,” a spokesperson for the senator told The Arizona Republic. “Senator Sinema maximizes her time in Arizona to connect with as many constituents in every corner of the state as possible."
In April, Sen. Sinema took a plane with five staff members from Phoenix to Tucson, Bisbee and Douglas before flying back to Tucson and Phoenix, according to The Daily Beast. The journey reportedly cost $13,840. Driving would have taken approximately eight hours.
The senator also reportedly flew from Phoenix to Flagstaff and Prescott before returning to the Arizona capital in May 2022, piling up a $9,400 tab for what would be a six-hour drive.
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Sen. Sinema flew the luxurious Southwest Aircraft Charter a majority of the time, according to The Daily Beast. She reportedly also used Monarch Air Group for a flight with four staffers from Washington, D.C. to the Grand Canyon that cost $50,250. Her deputy press secretary's and military and veterans affairs representative’s annual salaries are reportedly a couple thousand dollars more.
The amount Sen. Sinema spent on private planes last year was greater than the annual salaries of almost all of her most senior staffers, according to The Daily Beast.
The senator has reportedly preferred luxury hotels as well, compiling a $8,470 bill for a 2022 stay at the Boston Ritz-Carlton, according to The Daily Beast.
Adam Andrzejewski, the founder and CEO of OpenTheBooks, told The National Desk (TND) the expenses are evidence "the $4 million annual office allotment of a U.S. senator" should be revisited.
"Every member of Congress should possess the personal discipline to ground themselves from private, chartered airplanes paid for by taxpayers," Andrzejewski told TND. "For her $210,000 in chartered, expensive air flights, Sinema should win the golden fleece award."
Garrett Ventry, a former aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told "On the Money" last year Sen. Sinema’s lavish spending could hurt her perception among Arizonans.
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“Sinema will have a lot of funding from Wall Street. Her whole goal was to get money from these types,” Ventry noted. “Of course, that is something of a turn off to everyone in this environment.”
Sen. Sinema will compete against GOP candidate Kari Lake and Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., for reelection this year. A November poll showed Gallego led with 39% of voters. Lake sat in second at 33% while Sen. Sinema was in third at 29%.
TND reached out to Sen. Sinema for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. This story will be updated if a response is received.
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