Sen. John McCain made it back to the Senate after his recent cancer diagnosis.
In typically feisty fashion, he skewers political fumbling
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., returned to the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday afternoon to cast a critical vote in favor of health care legislation less than a week after undergoing surgery and revealing he has brain cancer.
In typical McCain fashion, he took to the floor and blasted both the Senate’s draft health care bill and the process that produced it.
“All we’ve managed to do is make more popular a policy that wasn’t very popular when we started trying to get rid of it,” he said of Obamacare.
McCain’s vote was pivotal as Republicans, who hold a 52-seat majority, scrambled to round up 50 votes on a motion to advance legislation that would repeal Obamacare.
McCain did not announce in advance whether he would support Tuesday’s “motion to proceed,” but he marched onto the floor to a standing ovation from his colleagues and voted “aye.” Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted no, requiring Vice President Pence to cast the tiebreaking vote in favor.
That was only a vote to begin debate. “I will not vote for this bill as it is today,” McCain said, and if it fails, “which seems likely,” the Senate should go back to the drawing board to hold hearings and consult with Democrats — things that have been lacking.
McCain urged his colleagues to “stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths” on radio, television and the Internet who rail against compromise. “To hell with them!” McCain said.
Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, smiled during McCain’s speech as he railed against Republicans crafting legislation behind closed doors and trying to convince skeptics that it’s better than nothing.
“Let’s trust each other,” McCain said. “We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle.”
McCain left the Capitol with his wife, Cindy, after his speech, canceling a news conference.
His announcement Monday that he would return for the vote added momentum to Republican efforts in the Senate after House Republicans’ passage of their bill in May.
“We all know Sen. McCain is a fighter,” said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., during a Senate floor speech Tuesday. “That’s evidenced by his remarkable life of public service, just as it’s again evidenced by his quick return to the Senate this afternoon.”
McCain, 80, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and six-term senator, is battling glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer that is difficult to treat. He is reviewing treatment options, which may include chemotherapy and radiation, with his care team at the Mayo Clinic.
On the Senate floor, he hugged his colleagues and joked about his well-wishers. “I’ve had so many people say such nice things about me recently that I think some of you must have me confused with someone else,” he said.
President Trump, who has criticized McCain, tweeted his thanks early Tuesday morning, then again after the vote.
Others blasted McCain on Twitter for leaving taxpayer-supported treatment to help pass legislation that, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, would lead to more than 20 million fewer people having insurance by 2026.
“After brain surgery paid for by taxpayers, @SenJohnMcCain will vote to take away healthcare from 22 million Americans,” tweeted Jon Cooper, chairman of the Democratic Coalition, which describes itself as an anti-Trump organization.
“We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle.” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.