Last last night, the Senate voted against the "Skinny Repeal" of Obamacare by an extremely narrow margin—51-49.
While Sen. John McCain's deciding vote has dominated the headlines, he's not the only Republican senator who voted against the repeal. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins also voted against the measure and it's worth noting that their votes were not a surprise; their opposition to the GOP's plans to repeal Obamacare has been persistent.
As Bustle reports, Murkowski and Collins have expressed specific concerns over proposed cuts to Medicaid and the impact the repeal would have on rural hospitals—and both have consistently opposed the GOP's attempts to defund Planned Parenthood.
The two women tweeted on July 25 explaining their positions on the bill:
I voted no on MTP. When dealing w/ a complex issue that affects millions of Americans & 1/6th of our economy, we must proceed carefully. 1/3July 25, 2017
We must work in a bipartisan way to fix the ACA’s serious flaws. 3/3July 25, 2017
My statement on today on the motion to proceed vote. pic.twitter.com/d0Y7SJ93DtJuly 26, 2017
McCain also released a statement explaining his vote:
"I've stated time and time again that one of the major failures of Obamacare was that it was rammed through Congress by Democrats on a strict party-line basis without a single Republican vote. We should not make the mistakes of the past."
And, of course, Donald Trump took to Twitter to weigh in on the decision as well.
While McCain's vote is historic and important, to ignore the role Collins and Murkowski played in blocking the skinny repeal is shortsighted at best. These women fought hard and put their constituents ahead of party politics—which exactly what elected officials are supposed to do.
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