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The maverick stood with his party on Tuesday, casting a crucial vote in the Republican drive to repeal "Obamacare." But then, like an angry prophet, Sen. John McCain condemned the tribal politics besetting the nation. Confronting an aggressive brain cancer, the 80-year-old Arizonan served notice he would not vote for the GOP legislation as it stands now. McCain's impassioned speech held the rapt attention of his colleagues in the Senate chamber. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/26)

He said that although he had voted to begin debate on repealing the Affordable Care Act, he would definitely not vote for a Senate health care bill without major changes. As it turned out, however, Mr. McCain did side late Tuesday with most Senate Republicans who voted — unsuccessfully — to replace the health care law with the most comprehensive plan his party has offered so far. (Steinhauer, 7/25)

Standing in the well of the Senate with the surgical scar over his left eyebrow clearly visible, McCain urged his colleagues to "stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths" on radio, television and the Internet who rail against compromise. "To hell with them!" McCain said. (Gaudiano, 7/25)

“Let’s trust each other. Let’s return to regular order. We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle,” McCain told his colleagues, who gave him the floor for an unusual address usually reserved for a retiring senator. “We’re getting nothing done, my friends. We’re getting nothing done.” (Kane, 7/25)

The senator spared no one—not himself, not Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). “Sometimes I made it harder to find common ground because of something harsh I said to a colleague,” Mr. McCain said. “Sometimes I wanted to win more for the sake of winning than to achieve a contested policy.” (Hughes, 7/25)

Trump hailed McCain in not one but two Tuesday tweets. The president called McCain an "American hero," apparently changing his mind two years after declaring on the campaign trail that "he's not a war hero" and "I like people who weren't captured." McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, earning several medals for valor. (Schor, 7/25)

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted in favor of a procedural hurdle Tuesday evening that would have advanced the GOP's ObamaCare repeal and replace bill to a vote. The vote to advance the proposal to a vote failed 43-57, with McCain voting yes. (Hellmann, 7/25)

Sen. John McCain’s decision to return to Washington for Tuesday’s vote on health care legislation came less than two weeks after surgery to remove a blood clot in his head — and shortly after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. His quick return came as a surprise to much of Washington. When he received his diagnosis of glioblastoma on July 14, he announced that he would stay in Arizona for a week to recover. And in a speech after Tuesday’s vote, McCain announced that he’ll be returning to Arizona to continue treatment after a few days in D.C. (Sheridan and Ross, 7/25)