by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's healthcare bill may be dead on arrival next week, after key Senator John McCain on Friday announced his opposition.
While earlier this week it seemed that the bill could squeeze by, Trump's hopes may have been dashed after the announcement.
The GOP is unlikely to have enough votes to pass the legislation next week, and that could harm the party's credibility in the lead-up to next year's congressional elections, experts said.
In a last-ditch effort to pass a replacement for the previous administration's healthcare overhaul, known as Obamacare, Trump this week is trying for a second time to pass the healthcare legislation.
"McCain's announcement likely means that Republicans will not have the votes to pass their legislation. There seem to be at least three Republicans who oppose the bill. So unless there is a Democrat who surprises everyone by voting yes, the repeal effort will not go forward," Brookings Institution senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
As Democrats are firmly against the replacement of former President Barack Obama's landmark legislation, nearly every GOP senator will need to vote for Trump's bill for it to pass.
Failure to pass the bill could spell trouble for the GOP, according to experts. The party has promised constituents for eight years that it would replace the law which critics say has caused healthcare costs to skyrocket for many Americans, although supporters say it has helped millions of Americans who did not have health insurance to get it.
"If the bill fails next week, that will be the official end of the repeal effort," West said.
"Republican voters will be very angry about this failure and likely to penalize GOP candidates in next year's midterm elections," West said.
The party's inability to pass a bill underscores deep divisions within the GOP, experts said.
"For the GOP, it reveals that yet again the philosophical divides within the party are too broad to bridge - at least on healthcare, and perhaps in many other aspects of governing," Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua.
"Beyond the party, McCain's statement is a powerful reminder that healthcare, which is one-sixth of the economy, needs a bipartisan approach for a long-term solution to healthcare," Mahaffee said.
"It looks like this bill is dead, and it's time for the GOP leadership to explore how they can bridge some of their divergent orthodoxies on tax reform," Mahaffee said, noting the next big issue that will likely be on the president's agenda.
Trump's bill gives U.S. states the power to opt out of some of the federal regulations embedded in Obamacare, although most states, including McCain's home state, would overall receive fewer federal healthcare funds than they do under Obamacare.
Meanwhile, Trump has been pushing for the legislation, taking to social media on Friday and writing that no GOP lawmaker wants to be known as "the Republican who saved ObamaCare."
