LONDON, July 28 (APM) - U.S. President Donald Trump's last-ditch attempts to repeal the Obama-era healthcare act in the U.S. have failed following a dramatic Senate vote in the first hours of Friday morning.
The 49-51 vote saw Senator John McCain join forces with fellow Republican senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who together with all the Democrats voted the bill down.
The vote was over a last attempt to repeal Obamacare, after the Senate had rejected Trump's 'repeal and replace' Better Care Act provisions earlier in the week (APMMA 54065).
McCain returned to the Senate after surgery and a brain tumour diagnosis to pass the bill through for Senate floor debate, though he had made it clear he was unhappy with large parts of the would-be legislation.
On Friday, CNN reported that Trump had spoken with McCain on the phone just off the Senate floor before the final vote was cast, though McCain still voted against, branding the repeal-only attempts "skinny".
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said the Republicans were still committed to repealing Obamacare - formally the Affordable Care Act - after attempts were voted down at around 1.40am on Friday morning. The vote follows a seven-year campaign to undo the law introduced by President Barack Obama.
On Friday, the Financial Times reported that the vote is the biggest legislative blow to Trump to date.
Following the vote, Trump took to Twitter to air his grievances. In the early hours of Friday morning, he wrote: "3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!"
Repealing Obamacare would leave around 24 million additional U.S. citizens uninsured (APMMA 53976), critics argue.
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