Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Washington on edge amid SCOTUS vacancy Murkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE (R-Texas) on Friday cast the Senate's rejection of a skinny ObamaCare repeal bill as a "betrayal" of Americans who voted for Republicans vowing to do away with the healthcare law.

"There are going to be a great many Americans who tonight feel a sense of betrayal — feel a sense of betrayal that politicians made a promise," Cruz told Fox News shortly after the healthcare vote.

"I'll tell you this, if you stand up and campaign and say we're going to repeal ObamaCare and you vote for ObamaCare, those are not consistent," he continued. "And the American people are entirely justified in saying, 'Any politician who told me that and voted the other didn't tell me the truth; they lied to me.' "

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The Senate narrowly turned down a scaled-down version of a measure to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) early Friday morning, with three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsGraham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Gardner signals support for taking up Supreme Court nominee this year Tumultuous court battle upends fight for Senate MORE (Maine), Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiGraham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Gardner signals support for taking up Supreme Court nominee this year Tumultuous court battle upends fight for Senate MORE (Alaska) and John McCain John Sidney McCainBiden's six best bets in 2016 Trump states Replacing Justice Ginsburg could depend on Arizona's next senator The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Washington on edge amid SCOTUS vacancy MORE (Ariz.) — voting with Democrats to reject the legislation.

The rejection all but upended Republicans' current efforts to uphold their seven-year promise to wipe out, at least in part, former President Obama's signature healthcare law.

Despite suffering years of low approval ratings, the ACA has risen in popularity in recent months, with more people in favor of keeping the law than doing away with it, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.