美参议院将投票决定是否开始就取代奥巴马医保展开辩论

The U.S. Senate is due to vote Tuesday on whether to open debate on the latest Republican initiative to overhaul the health care system put in place under former President Barack Obama.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is leading the push to move away from the Affordable Care Act, also commonly known as Obamacare, but over the course of the past month he has been forced to take a step back when it became clear there were not enough votes to pass two different versions of the bill.

Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate. With unified Democratic opposition to repealing the ACA, Republicans can only lose two dissenting votes, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the vote in the event of a 50-50 tie.

Republican Senator John McCain announced he would be returning to work Tuesday after a short absence during which he announced he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

What is not clear is which bill will be voted on. The House of Representatives passed its own repeal-and-replace legislation in May, a bill Trump applauded at a White House rally after its passage and then later described as "mean." He instead called for the Senate to approve legislation with more "heart."

Senator John Cornyn said Monday that Republicans will discuss the various health care bill options at a lunch Tuesday before the procedural vote.

Democratic Senator Al Franken called the lack of clarity about which bill would be considered "deeply troubling."

President Donald Trump continued pressuring Republicans to act on an issue that was part of his campaign, saying Monday there has been "enough talk and no action."

"Any senator who votes against starting debate is telling America you are fine with the Obamacare nightmare," said Trump, who was surrounded by several families the White House referred to as "victims of Obamacare."

"For senate Republicans, this is their chance to keep their promise," the president said. "Over and over again they said, ‘Repeal and replace, repeal and replace.' They can now keep their promise to the American people."

Trump also tore into Obama's health care law with fresh intensity, calling it a "government takeover" of health care and "big, fat, ugly lie" that had "wreaked havoc" on American families.