By Emily Goodin

It was the “no” heard ’round the world when Sen. John McCain, with a thumbs down, capped seven years of Republican futility in trying to repeal Obamacare in the early hours of Friday morning.
 
The week ends as it began -- with the Affordable Care Act as the law of the land.
 
RealClearPolitics’ James Arkin has the details on what went down in the Senate: “Republican senators appeared stunned walking off the floor following the vote, with several declining to comment to reporters as they departed. … Audible gasps could be heard in the chamber as [McCain] cast the vote.”  http://bit.ly/2tPa8mZ
 
Time will tell what the next steps will be. Another straight repeal vote is unlikely but expect lawmakers to attempt a series of fixes, possibly with help from Democrats. What those will be remains to be seen.
 
The House leaves Washington today for its August recess although Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy warned members they could be called back if the Senate passes something on health care. That is looking more and more unlikely. The House is scheduled to return on Sept. 5. The upper chamber heads out for its August break in the next week or two. Senators will be back in the Capitol on Monday.
 
Public approval of the Affordable Care Act stands at 2.5 percent in the RCP average. http://bit.ly/2udqtyQ Congressional job approval is at a -55 http://bit.ly/2tjhdIo
 
President Trump has been active on Twitter to express his disappointment in the outcome of the Senate vote: “3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!” http://bit.ly/1Gb8pUt
 

PRESIDENTIAL JOB APPROVAL: The president’s job approval is at a negative-15.7 points in the RealClearPolitics Polling Average. http://bit.ly/2slB9gm

TUNE IN: In Episode 5 of “The Future of the Administrative State,” RealClearPolicy editor Tony Mills talks with Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. A founding director of the Clinton administration's National Performance Review, she makes a case for reforming rather than abandoning the administrative state by improving congressional oversight, making agencies more efficient, and clarifying what we think the federal government should and should not be doing in the first place. http://bit.ly/2uB8Niq

PENT UP AT THE PENTAGON: At RealClearDefense, Pentagon correspondent Sandra Erwin writes on frustrations there with the lack of direction on foreign policy from the White House: “Trump has put his trust in Mattis and senior military leaders to chart a path forward for U.S. forces fighting in the Middle East and South Asia. But while exhaustive reviews and debates continue at the Pentagon, generals fear that the lack of a foreign policy direction from the White House will keep the military from succeeding.” http://bit.ly/2uTPZM9
 
Erwin also reports on Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley’s speech at the National Press Club on Thursday, in which his call for a bigger Army and defense budget was eclipsed by the transgender pronouncement by the president. http://bit.ly/2tJh94G
 
DIVINING 2020: At RealClearHealth, Ford Carson reports on the growing speculation that a single-payer health insurance push may become part of Democrats’ platform in 2020. http://bit.ly/2uU3tI7

In Other Originals

AROUND THE WORLD: At RealClearWorld, Boston University’s Angelo M. Codevilla argues the U.S. foreign policy establishment is at odds with the president and damaging prospects for peace in Syria: “The U.S foreign policy establishment seems unable to look at war from the perspective of how America’s advantage may be secured.” http://bit.ly/2uTZACE
 
INSIDE INFASTRUCTURE: At RealClearPolicy, economists and authors Tony Caporale and Marc Poitras write: “The economic argument for government spending on infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, and schools, should be about whether they provide us with more in benefits than in costs.” http://bit.ly/2tH82Bp
 
CAMPUS CRACKDOWN: At RealClearEducation, National Association of Scholars’ Rachelle Peterson assesses how Claremont McKenna College punished students who obstructed Heather Mac Donald's speech there: “Restraining rule-breaking students ought not to require special courage. The turmoil at Claremont and elsewhere was entirely avoidable. Colleges have been neglecting their basic responsibilities for a long time, trading intellectual diversity for political conformity. Is it any wonder that students now feel entitled to erupt in self-righteous anger at the first sign of real intellectual disagreement?” http://bit.ly/2uuuSz0
 
LOVE-LOVE AT U.S. OPEN: At RealClearSports, Tim Joyce writes on the tennis match America wants to see: “The millions who have flocked to the U.S. Open in Queens, New York, over the past dozen years have longed for what each of the other Slams has seen on multiple occasions: a Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal showdown. The two brilliant players have met no less than four times in Australia (in two semis and in two finals), five times at the French Open (four finals and one semi), and in three consecutive finals at Wimbledon (2006-2008). It’s just downright wrong and unfair that the two players who have defined this golden age of the sport have not tussled under the lights (or late day sun) in Gotham.” http://bit.ly/2tzBae9
 
EAT UP: RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy argues in favor of some processed food, noting that lost in the talk “is any sense of what food processing really is, and why, more often than not, it's a good thing.” http://bit.ly/2uBQb1I
 
SHARK WEEK: At RealClearLife, Diana Crandall reports on the news from the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" programming that sharks have returned to New York Harbor: “The return of great whites to New York City may give you even more reasons to visit the nearby beaches this summer. Not for the carnage, but for the marine life.” http://bit.ly/2tGBETT
 
And RealClearLife’s Matthew Reitman notes that more people have been killed by cows than sharks. http://bit.ly/2h6VOQL
 
GET THE POPCORN READY: At RealClearSports, editor Ben Krimmel looks at the Top 10 Baseball Movies. http://bit.ly/2tZPDPP