Senate John McCain announced Friday he cannot ‘in good conscience’ vote for the latest Obamacare repeal bill, delivering a critical blow to the latest Republican effort.
‘I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal,’ McCain said in a statement.
‘I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will effect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it.’
McCain delivered the body blow to a previous ‘skinny’ Obamcare repeal bill, returning from Arizona after a brain cancer diagnosis and procedure to vote against it. Then, as Friday, he brought up the process that was rushing the measure to the Senate floor, this time without a Congressional Budget Office Score.
NO DEAL: Senate John McCain announced Friday he cannot ‘in good conscience’ vote for the latest Obamacare repeal bill
‘Without a full CBO score, which won’t be available by the end of the month, we won’t have reliable answers to any of those questions,’ McCain said.
Three Republicans would be enough to sink the bill, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has already said he opposed it. At least two other Senate Republicans have waivered.
McCain acknowledged the personal relationships involved. The chief sponsor, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, is one of his closest friends and travel companions to global hotspots.
By contrast, Donald Trump ridiculed Graham during the campaign and once gave out his private cell phone number – but has been closely coordinating with him on trying to salvage the GOP’s health plan.
“I take no pleasure in announcing my opposition. Far from it. The bill’s authors are my dear friends, and I think the world of them. I know they are acting consistently with their beliefs and sense of what is best for the country. So am I,’ said McCain.
President Donald Trump is turning up the heat on GOP senators in advance of a vote scheduled next week on another Obamacare repeal
President Donald Trump cranked up the pressure on Senate Republicans in advance of next week’s Obamacare repeal vote, warning Rand Paul and other critics they’ll be blamed if they vote against the bill.
Kentucky GOP Sen. Paul has already blasted the bill as a ‘fake’ Obamacare repeal for leaving too much of its structure in place, leading Trump to single him out on Twitter.
The president for the moment has not been training his fire on Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is undecided on the bill, which is expected to cost her rural state tens of millions of dollars in lost subsidies each year.
‘Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as “the Republican who saved ObamaCare,’ Trump wrote Friday morning.
Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul has already blasted the bill as a ‘fake’ Obamacare repeal for leaving too much of its structure in place, leading Trump to single him out on Twitter
The mention of ‘future campaigns’ was an obvious threat that they could lose their jobs over the move.
Paul shot back on Twitter: ‘Calling a bill that KEEPS most of Obamacare “repeal” doesn’t make it true. That’s what the swamp does. I won’t be bribed or bullied.’
He made plans to keep up his opposition despite the heightening pressure, booking an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Monday.
Despite Trump’s focus on Paul, Senators desperate to meet an expiring deadline for an Obamacare repeal bill that would let them dodge a Democratic filibuster and pass it on a simple majority are focused on another lawmaker: Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
A study by consulting firm Avalere concluded Alaska would lose $1 billion in funding between 2020 and 2026 – about $1,350 per resident in the sparsely populated state where access to care is a challenge.
President issued a warning to ‘whoever’ votes against the latest Obamcare repeal bill
Sen. Rand Paul wrote back that he won’t be ‘bribed or bullied’
Sen. Rand Paul said the current bill ‘isn’t repeal’
Sen. Rand Paul ripped the latest bill as ‘Obamcare Lite’
COLD SHOULDER: Senator Lisa Murkowski has yet to embrace the bill, and negotiators could try to secure her support by carving out exceptions for her state, which could lose $1 billion over seven years in one analysis
AS GOES MAINE: Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, speaks to members of the media in the basement of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. She has also criticized the bill
‘Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as “the Republican who saved ObamaCare,’ Trump wrote Friday morning
Graham told a conservative group that some accommodations might have to be made for Alaska, the HIll reported.
Talk of an Alaska-centered fix is reviving talk of the infamous ‘cornhusker kickback’ used to secure Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s support for Obamacare in the first place.
Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel warned that all manner of the state’s federal sustenance could be in jeopardy if Murkowski votes against a health bill she has expressed reservations about.
‘But why should the nation continue to send outsize taxpayer funds to a state that is single-handedly condemning Americans to ObamaCare?’ she wrote.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins has criticized the latest effort, while Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who torpedoes an earlier ‘skinny’ repeal bill, is someone leaders consider gettable. His state’s governor came out for the Graham-Cassidy bill.