Senator: McCain calling shots in committee during Arizona recovery

PHOENIX — A U.S. senator said John McCain was still calling the shots in the Armed Services Committee while he receives treatment for brain cancer in Arizona.

“I’m next in line, so I’m chairing the meetings, but we’re chairing the meetings consistent with what [McCain] feels we should be doing,” U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) told C-Span’s “Newsmakers” program this weekend.

Inhofe did not specify how often he was in touch with McCain, but said McCain was still setting agendas from across the country.

“In fact, actually deciding on what hearings we’re having, that’s a decision coming out of the chairman,” Inhofe said.

McCain has yet to return to Washington, D.C. since the holiday recess. He announced over the summer that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.

Inhofe said the committee can’t stop working to wait for McCain, but there was no question about his leadership.

“[McCain] is calling the shots and I’m showing up,” he said.

The senator’s office has not given a timeline for him to return to the nation’s capital, but has said he was doing well.

He has been treated at both the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and the National Institutes of Health.

Follow @KTAR923