The Senate effort to pass a “skinny” repeal of Obamacare failed dramatically early Friday morning by a 51-49 vote.
John McCain joined Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who had previously made their objections known to defeat the bill.
The failure of efforts to repeal Obamacare meant that Donald Trump is likely to start the next six months of his presidency without any major legislative victories.
Although it hasn’t permanently foiled Republican efforts to replace Obamacare, it serves as major impediment with an August recess approaching as well as other major pending issues like the budget and the debt ceiling.
The Guardian’s Lois Beckett talked to David Perdue of Georgia about McCain’s vote and what that means for the Senate:
“You could see, honestly, the body language in the entire chamber change the last two hours,” Sen. David Perdue said. “You guys were up there, you could see it. One side was kind of ebullient and talking, and the other side was very subdued, and all of a sudden, it began to change. And I think it was an instinctive reaction to maybe, ‘This thing’s not going to pass tonight.’ And nobody knew for sure until you saw three votes.”
“This is what democracy is,” Perdue said. “It’s messy.”
“This isn’t about wins and losses. I actually respect Chuck Schumer’s comments tonight. He admitted Obamacare’s broken, we’ve got to fix it,” Perdue said.
The Georgia Republican said that the feeling in the Senate now was, “Let’s move on.”
“I think there’s a mood right now in the senate, from McCain’s comments the other day to Schumer’s comments tonight, I think there’s a growing sense that, ‘Let’s get this done.’”
“I’m standing here ready to work with them,” Sen. David Perdue said of Democrats.
“I don’t think he turned on anybody,” Perdue said of McCain. “I think he voted his conscience. He loves America.”
(TheGuardian US)
