At 10 p.m. Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released text of a “skinny” repeal of Obamacare—the third version of the GOP’s various health care bills to be unleashed in as many days—likely expecting victory. By 1:30 a.m. Friday, his hopes had been dashed by Arizona Sen. John McCain and two other Republican Senators, who joined the entire Democratic caucus to defeat the measure and blow one of the biggest holes yet into the GOP’s seven-year long quest to slay Obamacare.
After working furiously to whip up support for the Healthcare Freedom Act of 2017, which would go after several of the health law’s mandates but keep much of it intact, McCain, Maine’s Susan Collins, and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski ultimately defied their party leadership to vote “no.”
