“Maverick” McCain Skips Chemo to Kill Obamacare Repeal

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On Friday morning the White House-led attempt to proceed on the watered-down version of the Obamacare repeal bill was defeated 49-51, with Senator McCain casting the deciding vote.

http://www.trunews.com/article/maverick-mccain-skips-chemo-to-kill-obamacare-repeal

(WASHINGTON, DC) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell failed to garner the support needed to pass the motion just after 1:30 a.m. Friday morning. Three Republicans — Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine — opted to join the 48 Democrats in voting against the measure. The Independent reported that Senator McCain "interrupted" his cancer treatment to fly cross country from Arizona to Washington for the vote.

Its failure comes as a devastating blow to McConnell, who struggled for months to get members of his party to come to a consensus on replacement language. After months of negotiations, GOP lawmakers were unable to come to a consensus on key provisions, including how to handle cuts to Medicaid in expansion states and whether they should defund Planned Parenthood. The “skinny repeal” — which was aimed at repealing the aspects of the Affordable Care Act that all factions of the conference agreed upon while leaving large portions in tact — was a last-ditch effort by leadership hoping to use the bill as a vehicle to conference with the lower chamber. Despite McConnell having long been lauded as a legislative wizard, his powers of persuasion fell short with the trio, all of whom have been vocal about their issues with the process and bill text.

McCain — who flew in from Arizona after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer earlier this week — told reporters, “I thought it was the right vote,” while exiting the Capitol.