WASHINGTON – Republican finger-pointing commenced Friday after the Senate’s dark-of-night defeat of the GOP’s effort to repeal much of the Obama health care law, a startling vote that dealt a blow to President Donald Trump.
“3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down,” Trump tweeted early Friday after GOP leaders failed to patch party divisions and the Senate rejected a last-ditch bill to keep the effort alive. “As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!”
The “skinny repeal” bill – erasing several parts of President Barack Obama’s law – was rejected just before 2 a.m. EST on a vote of 51-49.
All Democrats were joined by GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and the ailing John McCain. The 80-year-old Arizona senator made a dramatic return to the Capitol Tuesday after being diagnosed with brain cancer, when he cast a decisive procedural vote that for a time advanced the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. leaves the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 27, 2017, after a vote as the Republican majority in Congress remains stymied by their inability to fulfill their political promise to repeal and replace “Obamacare” because of opposition and wavering within the GOP ranks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)Sen. Bob Corker on health care vote
“My strong preference was for Congress to advance legislation I supported earlier this week to repeal Obamacare after a reasonable transition period,” Corker said. “I sincerely believed that was the best path forward and would have taken us back to a level playing field where, by a date certain, all sides would have had incentive to work together to develop a health care replacement that would generate broad support and stand the test of time. Unfortunately, that amendment failed to achieve the votes necessary to advance.” “I am disappointed that the Senate failed this morning to advance legislation that would allow us to continue our work to repeal and replace Obamacare, which is driving up costs and limiting choices for families in Tennessee and across our country,” Corker added. “It is my hope that we will expeditiously move to a process that will generate an outcome that is better for the American people than what is in place today.”