‘Wait for the show’: How John McCain torpedoed the Republican health plan

There were gasps when McCain joined Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins in opposing the bill, ending Republicans’ latest effort to kill the health law

Minutes after the clock struck midnight, John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, strode into the basement of the US capitol. He was on his way to the Senate floor to cast a consequential vote, as the Republican effort to repeal Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act hung in the balance.

“Have you decided how you’ll vote?” a report...

Healthcare activists celebrate as Republican repeal bill collapses

After John McCain’s dramatic intervention in the early hours of Friday, protesters outside the Capitol hugged, cheered and shouted: ‘Yes we did!’

Protesters hugged and clapped outside the US Capitol in the first hours of Friday as the latest GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act collapsed.

Related: Donald Trump says Obamacare will now implode. Is he right?

Continue reading...

McCain, Murkowski, Collins: Republican trio who defied party to vote no on health bill

The Republicans looked to have the votes to push through skinny repeal – but three senators upset the math to leave their party’s healthcare plans in tatters

When the Republicans held on to their Senate majority on the night Donald Trump was elected president, things looked truly bad for Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. The general assumption was that, with control of both houses of Congress and the White House, the GOP would find a way to make good on seven years’ worth of campaign promises to end Obamacare, which expanded healthcare to nearly 20 million people.

Related: John McCain sinks 'skinny repeal' of Obamacare health act

Continue reading...

Donald Trump says Obamacare will now implode. Is he right?

Analysis: After the failure of the Republicans’ ‘skinny repeal’ bill, the Affordable Care Act faces hurdles – but the president’s assessment may be overblown

In a stunning blow to Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, Republican senators were overnight unable to pass a bill to undo major parts of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, the health reform law considered Obama’s signature achievement.

Their efforts failed because three senators, including...

Republicans back ‘skinny repeal’ after guarantee it will not become law

Sceptical senators Lindsey Graham and Ron Johnson agree to vote for repeal on condition that it will trigger a congressional conference committee

Senate Republican leaders have unveiled their so-called “skinny repeal” bill – denounced by conservatives as a “fraud” and a “disaster” – in an eleventh-hour push to pass a pared-down repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Related: Republican quartet will only vote for skinny repeal if assured it won't become law – live

Continue re...

US Senate rejects bill to repeal Obamacare in huge blow for Trump – live

  • Lindsey Graham calls skinny repeal a ‘terrible policy, a horrible policy’
  • Republican healthcare debate: what is a ‘skinny repeal’ of Obamacare?
  • Trump’s healthcare battle reminds Scaramucci of Lincoln fighting slavery

8.22am BST

8.04am BST

Here’s footage of the notebook falling on Tim Scott on the Senate floor

On the Senate floor, @SenatorTimScott ge...

US healthcare debate: what is a ‘skinny repeal’ of Obamacare?

The latest Republican plan, whose details remain unclear, would eliminate the ACA’s individual mandate, employee mandate and ‘Cadillac tax’

It might sound like another trendy low-calorie caffeine drink promising all of the boost with none of the regrets.

But the skinny repeal is the fad sweeping the Senate Republican caucus as senators desperately try to find a way to advance their efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Continue reading...

Senate rejects bill to repeal large parts of Obamacare without replacement

  • Seven Republicans join with Democrats to oppose proposal
  • Failure suggests GOP’s promise to repeal ACA wholesale will be hugely difficult

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have repealed major pieces of Barack Obama’s health reforms without a replacement, something Republicans have promised to do for seven years.

Seven Republican senators joined with Democrats to reject the bill, in a sign that the party’s promise to repeal the Affordable Care ...

John McCain had the chance to do the right thing on healthcare. He failed | Lucia Graves

There are many reasons to respect the Arizona senator, but his remarkable stoicism and service can’t excuse his yes vote in the Senate

John McCain often gets cast as a truth-teller to Donald Trump, but his voting record says otherwise. And nowhere was that more clear than on Tuesday when, despite his own ill health, when it came to the decision of whether to take other people’s healthcare away, he cast a decisive vote in the wrong direction.

Related: Senate Republicans vote to...

Bipartisan hugs and a waltz with Bernie Sanders: McCain’s moving return to DC

The Arizona senator’s return to Washington was met with cheers and applause, even as he spoke passionately about the need for compromise in the Senate

In an emotional return to the Capitol, John McCain gave an impassioned speech about the state of American politics shortly after voting to begin debate on repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Related: Senate Republicans vote to open debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare

Continue reading...