Why John McCain opposes the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare overhaul

But the Arizona Republican signaled throughout the week that he would vote against the measure, stressing that his concerns about Republicans going around the Senate’s normal process, which he had voiced as he opposed another effort in late July, had not been fully addressed. Those concerns were enough for McCain to once again buck his party and go against his closest friend in the Senate, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was a key sponsor of the new bill.

McCain announced Friday he will oppose the legislation considered Republicans’ last shot at repealing Obamacare, saying a key problem is the lack of process and regular order as Republicans rushed to advance the bill.

“As I have repeatedly stressed, healthcare reform legislation ought to be the product of regular order in the Senate. Committees of jurisdiction should mark up legislation with input from all committee members and send their bill to the floor for debate and amendment. That is the only way we might achieve bipartisan consensus on lasting reform,” he said in the statement announcing his decision.

It is the same reason McCain gave in late July when he surprisingly voted against a “skinny” repeal bill in late July that was cobbled together in days. McCain was concerned that bill, which failed after a 49-51 vote, could become law and criticized Senate Republicans in a floor speech for ignoring regular order when considering legislation.

Regular order would entail hearings in committees of jurisdictions with input from both sides of the aisle, then sending the bill to the floor for a debate with amendments.

McCain, who was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this summer, had not said how he would vote on the latest Obamacare overhaul bill since it was introduced last week, but left major clues that his concerns about process remained.

Reporters asked him this week if two weeks was enough time to consider a bill through regular order. Republicans are trying to pass the overhaul bill by Sept. 30, when a deadline to get it approved with only 51 votes instead of the normal 60 to break a filibuster expires.

“We’ve had nine months to get it done, and we haven’t,” McCain said. “Is it my problem now that we only have a week?”

The senators behind the latest overhaul effort saw the complaints coming and tried to address them. Graham, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dean Heller of Nevada and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin cosponsored the bill that would take Obamacare funding and give it to states through block grants.

Johnson scheduled a hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which he heads. The committee traditionally doesn’t have jurisdiction over healthcare.

Then, a day later, the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction on healthcare, said it would hold a hearing on Monday.

McCain said before senators left town Tuesday that he didn’t think one hearing satisfied his desire for regular order. He elaborated as such during his statement Friday announcing his opposition to Graham-Cassidy.

“I would consider supporting legislation similar to that offered by my friends Sens. Graham and Cassidy were it the product of extensive hearings, debate, and amendment. But that has not been the case. Instead, the specter of Sept. 30 budget reconciliation deadline has hung over this entire process.”

The bill also will not have a full score from the Congressional Budget Office. The nonpartisan agency hopes to release a preliminary score Monday on how the bill would affect the deficit, but said it will take weeks to determine the bill’s impact on premiums and insurance coverage.

McCain stressed that any lasting healthcare reform needs bipartisan consensus, or else major reform that affects “every single American family will be subject to reversal with every change of administration and congressional majority.”

McCain called for bipartisan talks to resume on a bipartisan bill to stabilize Obamacare’s exchanges. Talks in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee collapsed this week, with Democrats saying Republicans squashed them to make room for a vote on Graham-Cassidy next week.

It is not clear if Republicans will take up bipartisan talks again. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, said that the party wants to start talks again if Graham-Cassidy fails.

But Republicans haven’t given up on Graham-Cassidy, including the two senators who are the bill’s namesake. Both Graham and Cassidy said in separate statements they will press forward.

However, McCain’s opposition puts Republicans in a major bind as they can’t lose three Republican senators and still pass it. McCain is the second Republican to publicly oppose the bill after Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has complained it keeps too much of Obamacare.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, appears likely to be the third “no” vote. She told the Portland Press Herald in Maine that she was leaning against it.