Nevada Sen. Dean Heller said Friday that he planned to vote against the Republican healthcare bill, a potentially key defection. Given the unified Democratic opposition to the bill, McConnell can afford to lose only two Senate Republicans, so Heller's announcement is significant. A no vote by Heller would not seal the fate of the bill, however. Heller cited several reasons for opposing the bill, but the chief one was its deep reductions in federal support for Medicaid. Heller's announcement increases the pressure on McConnell to find ways of persuading several other reluctant senators to support the bill.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 23, 2017 18:56 UTC