In Hero’s Return, John McCain Tells Senators to Stand up to Trump

After surgery to remove a blood clot above his eye, John McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer, earlier this month.

US Senator John McCain, diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, was given a hero’s welcome on his return to the Capitol on Tuesday, but quickly seized the opportunity to blister his party and his president for partisan politics.

Bruised and scarred from his recent surgery and flashing at times his characteristic self-deprecating humor, McCain spoke at length on the Senate floor, delivering a passionate rebuke of his fellow Republicans in Congress and an administration that has shown few results during Republican President Donald Trump's first six months in office.

“We’re getting nothing done,” the 80-year-old senator lamented.

McCain made a dramatic return from his Arizona home to cast a critical vote to keep alive one of Trump’s top legislative priorities, the repeal of 2010's Obamacare law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act.

McCain entered the Senate chamber to a standing ovation, with his vote helping Republicans open a floor debate, setting the stage for them to fashion a legislative replacement for Obamacare.

McCain took to the floor and urged his fellow Republicans to stand up to Trump, who has frequently chided the Republican-led Congress for failing to advance his agenda.

“We are not the president’s subordinates. We are his equals,” he said to a smattering of applause in the chamber.

He called on the Senate to make a renewed commitment to bipartisanship.

I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better serve the people who elected us. Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good.

John McCain

Earlier this month, after surgery to remove a blood clot above his eye, McCain was diagnosed with a primary glioblastoma, a highly aggressive type of brain tumor. He has been discussing treatment options with his medical team.

He said he would remain in Washington for a few days before returning to Arizona for treatment.

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