The Republicans lost by a vote of 49-51. The version of the reform that was rejected last night was far less drastic than the previous bills.
After a marathon session that lasted for hours, the Senate sank the latest version of the health care reform that would have undone former President Barack Obama’s health care law. This is a catastrophe for Donald Trump. The vote was 49-51, and Sen. John McCain played a crucial role. A few days ago, he was instrumental in reopening the debate on the bill in the Senate, and today he caused one of the greatest defeats for the American president since his election. Two days ago, Trump praised the veteran from Arizona as an “American hero!” Then, a few minutes after the harsh blow in the Senate, he tweeted pithily, “3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down.” However, he then raised the stakes again on Twitter. “As I said from the beginning, let Obamacare implode, then deal,” Trump wrote.
The version of the health care reform that was rejected was less drastic compared to its predecessors. It is no coincidence that it was called “skinny” – it contained fewer constraints for employees and businesses, more flexibility for individual states, but also the loss of health care coverage for 16 million Americans and a 20 percent increase in insurance rates, according to the House Budget Committee. However, even this watered down version of the reform bill was of no use and Republicans were left empty-handed.
That is because it was a gamble from the very beginning when Trump and Majority Leader McConnell reopened the debate in the Senate by a very narrow vote thanks to McCain and to outside support from Vice President Pence. The risk of failure was very high, though. In that total chaos, everything was left to improvisation, and the Republicans agreed on nothing. On Wednesday, the dissidents from Trump’s party along with all the Democrats rejected the first brutal version of the bill, the one that would have erased Obama’s reform without providing a replacement. On Thursday, the intermediate version was rejected as well, since some still felt it was too drastic. Now, even the “skinny” version has failed, despite Trump’s constant tweets urging his people for unity.
That was the last desperate attempt by the president and McConnell. The slap in the face from the latest defeat is terrible, and it will trigger a reckoning within the party that will likely affect the future of the administration. What will happen now? Before giving the last rites to health care reform, McCain started talking with Democrat senators. This may bode well for two-party agreement during the next bipartisan committee hearings, another complicated and uncertainty-riddled scenario. The only certainty for now is that this was a terrible day for Trump. The health care reform bill has crumbled to dust, Congress has all but deprived him of authority on the Russia sanctions and the threat of the “Russiagate” investigation looms increasingly larger. For the first time, although he will never admit it, Trump is in real trouble.
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