Senate Rejects ‘Skinny Repeal’ Bill as McCain Votes No

The Senate “rejected a new, scaled-down Republican plan to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, derailing the Republicans’ seven-year campaign to dismantle President  Obama’s signature health care law and dealing a huge political setback to President Trump,” the New York Times reports.

“Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who just this week returned to the Senate after receiving a diagnosis of brain cancer, cast the decisive vote to defeat the proposal, joining two other Republicans, Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), in opposing it.”

“The 49-to-51 vote was also a humiliating setback for the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has nurtured his reputation as a master tactician and spent the last three months trying to devise a repeal bill that could win support from members of his caucus.”

Politico: “It was a shocking — yet fitting — coda for the Senate’s health care battle, starring the veteran senator with a well-polished maverick streak who within days went from Obamacare repeal’s savior to its executioner.”

Earlier for members: Why McCain May Ultimately Kill the GOP Health Bill