McCain, battling brain cancer, back in the Senate

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., walks from his Senate office as Congress returns from the August recess to face work on immigration, the debt limit, funding the government, and help for victims of Hurricane Harvey, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. Earlier, McCain declared President Donald Trump’s decision to phase out an Obama administration program that has protected hundreds of thousands of young immigrants “the wrong approach” at a time when Republicans and Democrats need to work together. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) Senate colleagues are welcoming John McCain back to Washington.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the Senate will soon consider the annual defense policy bill and McCain, who is battling brain cancer, will take the lead on the legislation.

McConnell, in remarks at the start of the Senate session, says lawmakers are “glad to have him back with us.”

McCain is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The six-term Arizona senator received radiation and chemotherapy for cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.

In a dramatic turn at the end of July, McCain cast a deciding vote against the Republican health care bill, drawing the wrath of President Donald Trump and conservatives.

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