A “repeal only” bill to gut the Affordable Care Act without providing any replacement plan has failed in the Senate, 45-55, despite a seven-year effort on behalf of Congressional Republicans to rid the United States of former President Barack Obama's signature legislation. Six Republicans, Shelley Capito (R-WV), Dean Heller (R-NV), John McCain (R-AZ), Rob Portman (R-OH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), voted against a straight repeal of Obamacare, despite voting for the bill in 2015 when former Obama was in office. Susan Collins (R-ME) also voted against the measure. No Democrats voted for the bill. The vote follows a similar defeat last night for GOP leadership, with nine Senate Republicans voting “no” on a procedural motion to allow a vote for the Better Care Reconciliation Act. That decision prompted Donald Trump to tweet insults Wednesday morning at Murkowski, insisting she “really let the Republicans” down.
