U.S. Senate to delay votes on Republican healthcare bill

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell late Saturday night announced a delay to vote on a Republican bill to repeal and replace the country's healthcare program.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [File Photo: AP/ Timothy D. Easley]

The announcement came after a statement said Republican Senator John McCain would stay home recovering from surgery on a blood clot, which would leave Republicans short of the votes required to move forward the legislation.

McCain had a two-inch blood clot removed from above his left eye by surgeons in Phoenix Friday. "On the advice of his doctors, Senator McCain will be recovering in Arizona next week," a spokesperson for the 80-year-old senator said in a statement Saturday.

The Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said "the surgery went very well" and McCain is taking a rest at home "in good condition."

"While John is recovering, the Senate will continue our work on legislative items and nominations, and will defer consideration of the Better Care Act," McConnell said in a statement late Saturday night.

With opposition coming from all Democrats and independents in the Senate, the GOP bill has been on a brink after some Republicans stay either opposed or undecided.