CNBC by Jacob Pramuk 7/28/2017
The Senate blocked the latest Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare in a dramatic floor vote early Friday morning, yet again stalling — for now — the key campaign goal that eludes the GOP six months into the Trump administration.
Three GOP defections — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John McCain of Arizona — sank the measure in a 49-51 vote. McCain, who recently returned to the Senate after getting diagnosed with brain cancer, cast his "no" vote to audible gasps on the chamber's floor, according to reporters there.
Senate Republicans released the plan late Thursday just hours before voting on an amendment to take up the bill. The GOP could only afford to lose two votes on the proposal, which many senators suggested they would not even want to see become law.
The measure came after separate pushes to immediately replace the Affordable Care Act or repeal it with a two-year transition period failed amid GOP divisions. Several Republican senators slammed the plan and appeared to not even want it to become law.
It marks another blow to the sprawling agenda that Republicans hoped to accomplish when President Donald Trump won the White House and the GOP held both chambers of Congress in November.
After the vote, a visibly frustrated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called it "clearly a disappointing moment."
More:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/28/senate-blocks-skinny-obamacare-repeal-bill-in-dramatic-late-night-vote.html
