WASHINGTON—Senate Republicans agreed on Tuesday to open debate on a bill to repeal Obamacare, but the party’s seven-year effort to roll back former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law still faces significant hurdles.
The Senate deadlocked 50-50 on whether to move forward with the healthcare debate, forcing Vice President Mike Pence to cast the tie-breaking vote and send the bill to the Senate floor.
The outcome was a huge relief for President Donald Trump, who had pushed his fellow Republicans hard in recent days to live up to the party’s campaign promises to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
Senator John McCain, who has been battling brain cancer at home in Arizona, made a dramatic return to the Capitol to cast a vote to open the healthcare debate. He received an ovation from his fellow senators when he entered the chamber.
Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were the only Republicans to oppose the measure. Democrats were united in opposition to the motion to proceed.
A loss on Tuesday could have been a death blow for Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare, and could have also cast doubt on Trump’s prospects to achieve his other top legislative agenda items, including tax reform.
“We have a duty to act,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told senators before the vote, reminding Republicans they had promised to repeal Obamacare in four straight elections. “We can’t let this moment slip by.”
