McCain Returns Tuesday for Health Care Vote

Arizona senator was diagnosed with a brain tumor last week
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 24, 2017 8:49 PM CDT
McCain Returns Tuesday for Health Care Vote
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Senate Republicans will try to move ahead on Tuesday with their plan to ditch ObamaCare, and the task just got a little easier: John McCain will return for the vote. His office announced Monday night that the Arizona senator will be on Capitol Hill just a week after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, reports the Hill. The Senate plans a procedural vote on whether to take up debate on the measure, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could have afforded only one defection with McCain out of the picture. Now he's got a bit more breathing room. However, the Washington Post reports that it was still unclear Monday night exactly what health care legislation senators will be voting on.

Earlier, President Trump kept up pressure on Senate Republicans to make progress before their August recess. In a speech to Boy Scouts in West Virginia, he singled out the state's own Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. “You better get Senator Capito to vote for it,” he said, referring to Health and Human Services chief Tom Price, who was present. And at the White House earlier in the day, he said: “Any senator who votes against starting debate is telling Americans that you are fine with the ObamaCare nightmare.” (More John McCain stories.)

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