McCain halting treatment for advanced brain cancer
John McCain, the sixterm Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, has chosen to discontinue medical treatment for his brain cancer, his family said Friday.
In a statement, the family said McCain had surpassed expectations for survival, but “the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict.” The family added, “With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment.”
The senator, who would be 82 next week, has been away from the Capitol since December. If he should resign his seat or die soon, Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey would name a replacement through the 2020 election. The winner of that election would serve the remainder of McCain’s term through 2022.
The GOP currently holds a bare 51-49 Senate majority.
McCain has been a frequent target of criticism from President Trump, especially for his vote against a Republican replacement for “Obamacare,” the health care law approved under President Barack Obama.
The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain is a former Navy pilot and was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years. He was elected to Congress in the early 1980s and elected to the Senate in 1986, replacing Barry Goldwater, who retired. McCain gained a reputation as a lawmaker who was willing to stick to his convictions rather than go along with party leaders.
McCain won the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 before losing the general election to Obama.
Ducey said a “spirt of service and civility” guided McCain’s life, standing as a model for Americans regardless of political affiliation.
McCain underwent surgery in July 2017 to remove a blood clot in his brain after being diagnosed with an aggressive tumor called a glioblastoma.