McCain to the rescue

Donald Trump’s drive to abolish Obamacare scraped through a key Senate vote with John McCain coming to the President’s rescue in a dramatic return to Congress.

DONALD Trump’s drive to abolish Obamacare scraped through a key Senate vote Tuesday with John McCain coming to the US president’s rescue in a dramatic return to Congress following cancer surgery.

The vote, which allows the Senate to begin debate on health care reform legislation, was a victory for Mr Trump, who had spent weeks cajoling, strong-arming and warning Republicans to get on board with his effort to overhaul Obamacare.

Mr McCain (pictured), who announced last week he was suffering from brain cancer, cast a critical vote for the measure, leaving senators evenly split and forcing vice-president Mike Pence to break the tie for a 51-50 final count.

All 48 Democrats and independents voted against, along with Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

Mr McCain received a standing ovation from his colleagues as he entered the chamber, having made the trip from his home state of Arizona, where he was convalescing.

While he called for greater bipartisan cooperation in Congress, Mr McCain directly denounced the closed-door process that has marked the health care reform effort.