July 28, 2017

Here’s the Exact Moment Obamacare Repeal Died in the Senate

Watch John McCain cast the deciding vote.

Ron Sachs/CNP/Zuma

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In a dramatic late-night vote, three Republican senators joined every Democrat in narrowly defeating the so-called “skinny” repeal of Obamacare. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) cast the deciding votes, ending—for now—the GOP’s efforts to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. For several hours leading up to the vote, it was unclear what McCain would do. Democrats on the Senate floor applauded after he voted no.

McCain, who has cancer, returned to the Capitol earlier this week while recovering from surgery. He cast the deciding procedural vote in favor of beginning debate on several Republican proposals to repeal Obamacare. All those proposals were voted down.

In the run-up to the vote on the skinny repeal early Friday, the GOP leadership kept an earlier vote open for more than an hour while Vice President Mike Pence appeared to be lobbying McCain to support the bill. It seems that whatever Pence said wasn’t enough.

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