McCain votes ‘no’, skinny Obamacare repeal fails
Senator surprisingly joined two other rebel Republicans to deal a blow to President Trump
Washington, July 28: Senator John McCain voted early on Friday against the so-called “skinny repeal” version of the GOP plan to repeal Obamacare, joining Senators. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins to kill the bill.
McCain, who returned from Arizona for the health care vote after being diagnosed with brain cancer, was a surprise addition to Murkowski and Collins, who had both previously opposed other versions of the Senate plan, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) — the repeal-andreplace option — and the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act (ORRA), a straight repeal with a two-year delay to craft a replacement.
On Tuesday, McCain had voted for the motion to proceed after giving a rousing speech in defense of regular order in the Senate and bipartisan development of legislation. He voted in favor of the BCRA and against the other two versions of the bill.
US Republicans failed spectacularly on Thursday in their latest effort to dismantle Obamacare, leaving the party shocked and in disarray and signalling the potential death knell for President Donald Trump's dream of repealing his predecessor's health reforms.
“This was a disappointment, a disappointment indeed,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told colleagues after one of the most tense votes in years on the Senate floor.
“I regret that our efforts were simply not enough this time.”
The collapse marks a major setback for Republican leadership and for Trump, who had campaigned relentlessly on a pledge to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act that passed into law under his predecessor Barack Obama in 2010.
Friday’s vote, which capped a series of failed efforts in recent months to get an Obamacare repeal measure over the line, was on a so-called “skinny repeal” bill that would have rolled back only parts of Obamacare but kept the bulk of the law intact.
It crashed to defeat, 49-51, leaving Trump’s singular legislative initiative, and Republicans’ seven-year pledge to rip out the health care law, in tatters.
Trump, who had long cajoled and strong-armed Republicans in a bid to get them into line, swiftly spoke out about the failure, apparently unmoved by Democratic pleas for the parties to work toget her and improve the existing law.