"How can I make government less of a problem in their life?"

Sinema also sent mixed signals as the House prepared to vote Friday on a retooled, roughly $2 trillion tax-and-spending plan. She noted it differs from the blueprint that Biden had worked out with centrists weeks earlier, but she did not say what, if anything, she might change.

“So, that’s not the agreement the president put out in his framework several weeks ago,” the senator said. “While I’m not going to comment on what’s happening in the House at this moment, I can just refer you back to the comments I made when the president put out his framework. … I’m looking forward to working with him to get this done.”…

For some Democrats, Sinema’s approach has squandered a rare opportunity to advance a wide array of policies that they have been promising voters for years — especially entering midterm elections in which they are at risk of losing their majorities. The senator herself, however, said she views the political moment differently.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that kind of grand talk,” Sinema said. “What I think about is: What are the folks in my state hungry for? What do they need? How can I make their lives a little bit better? How can I make government less of a problem in their life? And what are the things that I can do today to help solve that? And, you know, I think it works.”