Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is not expected to attend Tuesday's crucial healthcare vote, a fellow GOP senator said Monday.
Reuters reports that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, does not believe McCain will travel to Washington for the vote on whether to proceed with open debate of the American Health Care Act, which the House passed earlier this year.
McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer after having a blood clot and a brain tumor surgically removed a week and a half ago. Republicans were hoping he would receive clearance from his doctors to travel from Arizona to the nation's capital, but Hatch doesn't believe that will happen.
McCain is expected to begin cancer treatment in the near future. When he returns to work on Capitol Hill is unknown.
With the GOP holding a narrow majority in the Senate, Majority Whip John Cornyn told Politico he was hopeful McCain could attend the vote.
"They were trying to get approval [from his doctors] for his travel arrangements. I've personally volunteered to rent an RV," Cornyn said. "But we haven't heard anything."
With some Republicans defecting from party leaders and announcing they would not vote for the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the GOP's healthcare reform efforts have stalled.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said it's not entirely clear what Tuesday's vote will entail.
Senators "have no earthly idea what we will be voting on tomorrow other than that it'll be moving to the House bill, but everybody knows it's not really going to be the House bill," Paul said.
"There's a lot of unknowns, and I don't think we should move to the bill with so many unknowns unless we're going to be told what exactly we're going to move to."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.