JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill says she didn’t object to a bill weakening federal authority to stop companies from distributing opioids, despite previously saying she wasn’t around when it came up.
McCaskill told CNN on Monday that she was away from the Senate receiving breast cancer treatment when the bill was voted on in 2016. The measure passed with unanimous consent, meaning no lawmaker objected.
After a report in the Washington Post on Tuesday that noted she was back at work at the time of the vote, McCaskill told reporters she had returned earlier than she thought. She called it an “embarrassing and sloppy” mistake.
McCaskill on Monday introduced legislation to give authority back to the Drug Enforcement Administration. She says her misstatement makes her more committed to fixing the law.
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