McCain: 'Not Rational' to Think Senate Will Defund Obamacare

On Thursday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said it was not rational to think the Senate will vote to defund Obamacare.

“In the United States Senate, we will not repeal, or defund, Obamacare. We will not. And to think we can is not rational,” McCain said on CNN. “I will again state unequivocally that this is not something that we can succeed in, and that’s defunding Obamacare, because we don’t have 67 Republican votes in the Senate, which would be required to override a presidential veto.”

McCain made his comments a day after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) set a vote for Friday on a resolution that would fund the government until December 15 except for Obamacare. 

Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have said once the House passes such a resolution, conservatives have to “win the argument” with Americans that President Barack Obama and Democrats would rather shut down the government than extend Obamacare exemptions to the country. If the House passes a resolution that defunds Obamacare on Friday, the fight will move to the Senate.

McCain, who has called Cruz a “wacko bird,” said, “I think Sen. Cruz is free to do whatever he wants to with the rules of the Senate.”