Liberal Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said Friday that she is “leaning against” voting for the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill, coming on the backs of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) decision not to vote for the latest Republican attempt to kill Obamacare.
The Associated Press reported Collins’ remarks in a tweet Friday. An accompanying story did not immediately reveal more of what she said, except her remarks that she is leaning against it, despite the bill’s support from Maine Gov. Paul LePage.
Sens. Collins, McCain, and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) killed the attempt to pass a “skinny repeal” in July with their opposition — with McCain famously giving a theatrical “thumbs down” to sink the bill.
McCain announced his opposition in a lengthy statement Friday, which effectively tanked the bill due to the slim Republican majority in the Senate:
I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will effect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it. Without a full CBO score, which won’t be available by the end of the month, we won’t have reliable answers to any of those questions.
Should Collins and Murkowski vote against the bill, it would almost certainly mark the end of the bill’s chances, as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has also indicated his opposition to the bill. Murkowski has not yet indicated her decision.
Such a defeat would mark the second major blow for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as he seeks to fulfill a central Republican promise repeatedly made to voters since Obamacare was passed in 2010.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.
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