Schumer praises McCain for ObamaCare repeal opposition

The Senate’s top Democrat offered praise for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after he said he would oppose the latest ObamaCare repeal bill, which narrows the chance that Republicans can get the legislation to President Trump’s desk.

“John McCain shows the same courage in Congress that he showed when he was a naval aviator,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said an hour after McCain’s statement.

“I have assured Senator McCain that as soon as repeal is off the table, we Democrats are intent on resuming the bipartisan process.”

{mosads}McCain is the second Republican, after Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), to announce his opposition to the bill spearheaded by GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C) and Bill Cassidy (La.), though many believe Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) will also oppose the legislation.

Republicans can only afford two defections and still get the bill through the Senate.

McCain urged his colleagues to try to craft a bipartisan health-care bill using “regular order.”

“We should not be content to pass health-care legislation on a party-line basis, as Democrats did when they rammed Obamacare through Congress in 2009. If we do so, our success could be as short-lived as theirs,” he said.

Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) had been leading bipartisan talks to try to get a deal on a bill that would stabilize the individual insurance market.

But those talks were put on hold earlier this week after the White House and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) warned they would not support a bill stabilizing ObamaCare.

McCain said Alexander and Murray had been “negotiating in good faith” and urged them to resume their talks if a third GOP senator comes out against the ObamaCare repeal bill.

Murray on Friday said she was willing to keep working.

“I’m still at the table ready to keep working, and I remain confident that we can reach a bipartisan agreement as soon as this latest partisan approach by Republican leaders is finally set aside,” she said.

Democrats earlier this week said that they had been making progress and had made concessions to Republicans on giving flexibility to states to change ObamaCare rules. 

They blamed Republican leadership for killing the Senate Health Committee’s bipartisan effort to clear the way for the new repeal effort. 

The goal of the bipartisan deal was to provide funding for key ObamaCare payments known as cost-sharing reductions in exchange for new flexibility for states.

No other Republicans have said yet if they’re open to restarting bipartisan hearings.