Two No Votes On Obamacare Repeal That Were Months In The Making
By TIERNEY SNEED Published JULY 28, 2017 3:18 PM
Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) surprise, dramatic no vote that officially sunk the long-struggling Senate effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act was a fitting finale to a tumultuous and unpredictable legislative push. But the continued resistance of Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) illuminated the deep distrust that accrued over the Senate leadership’s secretive process, as well as the major substantive issues in the Republican health care bill that GOP never was fully ready to engage on.
From Day 1 the two veteran senators made clear what their top concerns were. They were shut out from a private group said to be working on a closed-door health care deal that was only the start of multiple norms busted and a unprecedented lack of transparency. And rather than meet their demands on the substance, Republicans attempted to cut side deals or even bully them, until they were just written off completely.
While McCain’s vote had up until the very last second felt up in the air, Murkowski’s and Collin’s opposition was months in the making. Though they are often aligned in votes, and they sit next to each other in the chamber, Murkowski and Collins have different styles and occupy distinct roles in the Capitol Hill ecosystem.
Collins has for a long time reveled in her position as a perpetual thorn in leadership’s side. She’s a regular on the Sunday shows, and is friendly with the congressional press stalking the Capitol, who in the last few months followed her in hordes.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/lisa-murkowski-susan-collins-two-no-votes-on-obamacare-repeal-that-were-months-in-the-making