John McCain To Return To Senate For Health Care Vote

WASHINGTON, DC — Sen. John McCain, having just received a diagnosis of an aggressive form of brain cancer a little over a week ago, will rejoin his Senate colleagues Tuesday. Why the rush? Republicans are hoping to move a health care reform bill to the floor as soon as he returns — even as no one really seems to know what legislation they intend to vote on.

"Senator McCain looks forward to returning to the United States Senate tomorrow to continue working on important legislation, including health care reform, the National Defense Authorization Act, and new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea," said the Arizona Republican's office in a statement. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Watch: Sen. John McCain Returns To The Senate To Vote On Health Care

Republican health care reform plans seemed dead last week when leadership discovered that it lacked the votes to pass either the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or a simple repeal of the funding for Obamacare. According to the Congressional Budget Office, either of these plans would cause millions more people to be uninsured over the next ten years.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he would hold a vote on a motion to proceed this week regardless. It's unclear if the plan is to somehow compel reluctant senators to support some form of a bill, or if McConnell simply wants to show the public that he tried his best.

"We have no idea what the final product will be," one Senate aide told Axios.

At a speech to the boy scouts Monday night, Trump casually lobbed a threat — perhaps jokingly — at Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price if a bill didn't pass.

"Hopefully he's going to get the votes tomorrow to start our path toward killing this horrible thing known as ObamaCare," Trump said.

"By the way, you gonna get the votes?" he asked Price. "Otherwise, I'll say: Tom, you're fired."

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