Kyrsten Sinema has reemerged from political exile with a new identity — part psychedelic evangelist, part AI power broker, and surprisingly vocal admirer of the Trump administration. The former Arizona senator, once a Democrat and later an independent who infuriated progressives with her defense of the filibuster, is now charting a path far outside the chamber she abandoned earlier this year.
Sinema has joined global law and lobbying giant Hogan Lovells as a senior adviser. Her new passion project: pushing the government to approve ibogaine, a powerful and controversial psychedelic drug that she believes could revolutionize mental health treatment. She’s doing it pro bono, but the politics around it are anything but casual. Sinema calls the current moment a “magical, unique time,” crediting Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a vaccine skeptic with sweeping plans to reshape public health — for creating the opening.
In recent interviews, Sinema has leaned hard into her newfound alignment with Trumpworld. She called Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform “amazing,” arguing that Trump’s second-term Cabinet is full of “disruptors” ready to green-light psychedelics. She says she’s “close” to Kennedy, though she refuses to detail their conversations. She claims she’s personally persuaded Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, a conservative, to back psychedelic therapies.
Her new orbit is a mix of old allies and unlikely converts. Americans for Ibogaine — the group she recently addressed — was cofounded by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another Republican with deep ties to Trump. Arizona’s Democratic governor has budgeted millions for related research, while Texas Republicans earmarked $50 million more. According to Sinema, psychedelic politics now belong to “full-on hippies” and hard-right conservatives alike.
But psychedelics are only half the reinvention. Sinema has also become a leading voice in sprawling, big-money efforts to shape America’s AI infrastructure. Alongside former Rep. Garret Graves, she founded the AI Infrastructure Coalition, backed by Hogan Lovells and some of the world’s most powerful corporations — Microsoft, Meta, ExxonMobil, and Arizona utility giant Pinnacle West among them. She’s already pushing local governments to pave the way for massive data-center projects, warning one Arizona city that federal “preemption” under Trump could force their hand if they resist.
The comment triggered swift backlash from local officials who accused Sinema of flexing Washington muscle she no longer holds. Whether the federal government actually has authority to override municipal zoning law remains unclear, but for Sinema, the show of confidence is part of the brand. She has repeatedly said her coalition is working “hand in glove with the Trump administration to ensure American AI dominance.”
Her enthusiasm for the administration isn’t subtle. In recent appearances, she praised Trump’s AI agenda as “well-reasoned” and cast China as an existential threat the U.S. must obliterate in the tech race. She has also funneled $3 million in leftover campaign cash to Arizona State University to help launch an AI center focused on neurodivergent students — a project built partly in partnership with ChatGPT itself.
That same campaign fund has raised fresh ethical questions. With the Federal Election Commission largely paralyzed, Sinema has tapped her account for security, travel, makeup services, hotels, and meals — expenses that watchdog groups warn may violate campaign finance rules. A complaint filed last year remains unresolved.
