Story highlights The next few days will be unpredictable

Senators face hours of debate and votes

Washington (CNN) When Vice President Mike Pence cast his tie-breaking "yes" vote, there was no spontaneous applause or cheers from Republicans on the Senate floor.

In fact, after members started to trickle out of the chamber after voting to begin the debate on an Obamacare repeal bill, the only noise loud enough to break through came from a few straggler protesters seated upstairs in the gallery, who yelled out, "Kill the bill."

Six months and change after President Donald Trump's inauguration, Senate Republicans were finally successful Tuesday afternoon in kicking off consideration of a House-approved bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. But the tension that permeated before and after the nail-biter vote was a far cry from the almost joyful manner in which Republicans have campaigned on their promise to gut Obamacare for years.

Some telegraphed what Republican senators have known all along: This painful process is far from over.

"I don't know. Y'all were watching. It was fine," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, told CNN. When it was pointed out that there was hardly a sense of celebration among his colleagues, the senator responded: "Well, I think everybody understands this is just a first step."

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