WASHINGTON–The U.S. Senate voted to move ahead on health care legislation aimed at dismantling the Obama health law.
The vote was 51-50 on Tuesday, a victory for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump.
.@SenJohnMcCain-Thank you for coming to D.C. for such a vital vote. Congrats to all Rep. We can now deliver grt healthcare to all Americans!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017
Last week, McConnell was forced to postpone the vote, lacking the support of conservatives and moderates.
Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote.
Proud to break Senate tie to open debate to rescue Americans from failed Obamacare. Thanks to @POTUS, this is beginning of end of Obamacare. pic.twitter.com/3UFodiZtoV
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) July 25, 2017
In a dramatic turn, Sen. John McCain returned from Arizona where he is battling brain cancer to cast a crucial vote on proceeding on health care.
The vote sets up days of debate and votes on repealing and replacing Barack Obama’s health care law.
Just voted for today’s #motiontoproceed so the Senate can begin a bipartisan, open debate & amendment process on healthcare reform.
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) July 25, 2017
.@SenateGOP and @mike_pence just voted to advance #Trumpcare, ripping health care from at least 23 million Americans. That's shameful.
— Rep. Betty McCollum (@BettyMcCollum04) July 25, 2017
President Trump called the Senate passage of the motion to proceed on health care “a big step” at the start of a Rose Garden joint news conference, “I’m very happy to announce that with zero of the Democrats’ votes, the motion to proceed on healthcare has moved past and now we move forward toward truly great health care for the American people. We look forward to that. This was a big step.” He added, “I want to thank Sen. John McCain. A very brave man. He made a
tough trip to get here.”
In a written statement released at the same time, the President said, “I applaud the Senate for taking a giant step to end the Obamacare nightmare. As this vote shows, inaction is not an option, and now the legislative process can move forward as intended to produce a bill that lowers costs and increases options for all Americans. The Senate must now pass a bill and get it to my desk so we can finally end the Obamacare disaster once and for all.”
Whatever the Senate approves still requires a vote in the House.
Here is a breakdown of how each senator voted:
Republicans who supported: 50
Lamar Alexander, Tennessee
John Barrasso, Wyoming
Roy Blunt, Missouri
John Boozman, Arkansas
Richard Burr, North Carolina
Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Thad Cochran, Mississippi
Bob Corker, Tennessee
John Cornyn, Texas
Tom Cotton, Arkansas
Mike Crapo, Idaho
Ted Cruz, Texas
Steve Daines, Montana
Mike Enzi, Wyoming
Joni Ernst, Iowa
Deb Fischer, Nebraska
Jeff Flake, Arizona
Cory Gardner, Colorado
Lindsay Graham, South Carolina
Chuck Grassley, Iowa
Orrin Hatch, Utah
Dean Heller, Nevada
John Hoeven, North Dakota
Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma
Johnny Isakson, Georgia
Ron Johnson, Wisconsin
John Kennedy, Louisiana
James Lankford, Oklahoma
Mike Lee, Utah
John McCain, Arizona
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
Jerry Moran, Kansas
Rand Paul, Kentucky
David Perdue, Georgia
Rob Portman, Ohio
Jim Risch, Idaho
Pat Roberts, Kansas
Mike Rounds, South Dakota
Marco Rubio, Florida
Ben Sasse, Nebraska
Tim Scott, South Carolina
Richard Shelby, Alabama
Luther Strange, Alabama
Dan Sullivan, Alaska
John Thune, South Dakota
Thom Tillis, North Carolina
Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania
Roger Wicker, Mississippi
Todd Young, Indiana
Republicans who opposed: 2
Susan Collins, Maine
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
Tie-breaking vote: 1
Vice President Mike Pence
Democrats who supported: 0
Democrats who opposed: 48
Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
Michael Bennet, Colorado
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Cory Booker, New Jersey
Sherrod Brown, Ohio
Maria Cantwell, Washington
Ben Cardin, Maryland
Tom Carper, Delaware
Bob Casey, Jr. Pennsylvania
Christopher Coons, Delaware
Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada
Joe Donnelly, Indiana
Tammy Duckworth, Illinois
Richard Durbin, Illinois
Dianne Feinstein, California
Al Franken, Minnesota
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
Kamala Harris, California
Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire
Martin Heinrich, New Mexico
Heidi Heitkamp, North Dakota
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii
Tim Kaine, Virginia
Angus King, Maine (Independent)
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota
Patrick Leahy, Vermont
Joe Manchin, West Virginia
Ed Markey, Massachusetts
Claire McCaskill, Missouri
Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Jeff Merkley, Oregon
Chris Murphy, Connecticut
Patty Murray, Washington
Bill Nelson, Florida
Gary Peters, Michigan
Jack Reed, Rhode Island
Bernie Sanders, Vermont (Independent)
Brian Schatz, Hawaii
Chuck Schumer, New York
Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire
Debbie Stabenow, Michigan
Jon Tester, Montana
Tom Udall, New Mexico
Chris Van Hollen, Maryland
Mark Warner, Virginia
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island
Ron Wyden, Oregon