Senator McCain returning home to Arizona after being hospitalized
WASHINGTON » Republican Sen. John McCain is returning home to Arizona after being hospitalized for the side effects of his brain cancer treatment and likely will miss a crucial vote on the GOP tax package, President Donald Trump said Sunday.
Trump told reporters he had spoken to McCain’s wife, Cindy, after her husband had spent about a week at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.
“They’ve headed back, but I understand he’ll come if we ever needed his vote, which hopefully we won’t,” Trump said after returning to the White House from Camp David. “But the word is that John will come back if we need his vote. And it’s too bad. He’s going through a very tough time, there’s no question about it. But he will come back if we need his vote.”
Now in his sixth Senate term, McCain, 81, underwent surgery in mid-July to remove a 2-inch blood clot in his brain after being diagnosed with glioblastoma. A statement issued last Wednesday by the senator’s office said he was at Walter Reed receiving treatment for the “normal side effects of his ongoing cancer therapy.”
His daughter Meghan McCain tweeted Sunday: “My father is doing well and we are all looking forward to spending Christmas together in Arizona.”
Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, and McCain and Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., missed votes last week. The 80-year-old Cochran had a non-melanoma lesion removed from his nose earlier this week. He is expected to vote this coming week on the tax bill.
Republicans secured the support of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker last Friday for the tax measure, and they are poised to pass the bill by a narrow margin in the face of unified Democratic opposition. As a backstop, Vice President Mike Pence would be available to break a tie.
A vote is expected in the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. If approved, the measure would head to Trump for his signature on what will be his first major legislative accomplishment since taking office 11 months ago.