Washington (CNN) Sen. John McCain returned to Arizona Sunday to continue recovering from the side effects of chemotherapy for a brain tumor and will not be in Washington for the tax vote this week, two sources close to McCain confirmed to CNN. 
 
 McCain is unlikely to return to Washington this year, one of the sources said. But his ability to get on a plane to Arizona was a "good sign," a source said. 
 
 McCain left Walter Reed Medical Center "exhausted, but ok," a Republican close to him said. 
 
 McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, confirmed that the senator would be in Arizona for Christmas. 
 
 "Thank you to everyone for their kind words. My father is doing well and we are all looking forward to spending Christmas together in Arizona," she tweeted Sunday afternoon. 
 
 Thank you to everyone for their kind words. My father is doing well and we are all looking forward to spending Christmas together in Arizona. If you're feeling charitable this Christmas @HeadfortheCure or @NBTStweets to help find a cure for brain cancer is what I recommend. ❤️ — Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) December 17, 2017 
 
 Read More ||||| FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2017 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session where Republican senators met on the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington.... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2017 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session where Republican senators met on the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump says McCain is returning home to Arizona after being hospitalized over the side... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2017 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session where Republican senators met on the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump says McCain is returning home to Arizona after being hospitalized over the side... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2017 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session where Republican senators met on the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington.... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. John McCain is returning home to Arizona after being hospitalized for the side effects of his brain cancer treatment and likely will miss a crucial vote on the GOP tax package, President Donald Trump said Sunday. 
 
 Trump told reporters he had spoken to McCain's wife, Cindy, after her husband had spent about a week at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. 
 
 "They've headed back, but I understand he'll come if we ever needed his vote, which hopefully we won't," Trump said after returning to the White House from Camp David. "But the word is that John will come back if we need his vote. And it's too bad. He's going through a very tough time, there's no question about it. But he will come back if we need his vote." 
 
 Now in his sixth Senate term, McCain, 81, underwent surgery in mid-July to remove a 2-inch (51-millimeter) blood clot in his brain after being diagnosed with glioblastoma. A statement issued last Wednesday by the senator's office said he was at Walter Reed receiving treatment for the "normal side effects of his ongoing cancer therapy." 
 
 His daughter Meghan McCain tweeted Sunday: "My father is doing well and we are all looking forward to spending Christmas together in Arizona." 
 
 Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, and McCain and Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., missed votes last week. The 80-year-old Cochran had a non-melanoma lesion removed from his nose earlier this week. He is expected to vote this coming week on the tax bill. 
 
 Republicans secured the support of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker last Friday for the tax measure, and they are poised to pass the bill by a narrow margin in the face of unified Democratic opposition. As a backstop, Vice President Mike Pence would be available to break a tie. 
 
 A vote is expected in the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. If approved, the measure would head to Trump for his signature on what will be his first major legislative accomplishment since taking office 11 months ago. 
 
 After his summer surgery, McCain rebounded quickly, returning to Washington and entering the Senate on July 25 to a standing ovation from his colleagues. 
 
 In a dramatic turn, he cast a deciding vote against the Republican health care bill — a move that drew the wrath of Trump and conservatives. McCain's vote scuttled the seven-year effort by the GOP to dismantle much of President Barack Obama's health care law. 
 
 But McCain's condition has appeared to worsen in recent weeks. He suffered a minor tear in his right Achilles tendon, forcing him to wear a walking brace. McCain eventually began using a wheelchair, with members of his staff pushing him where he needed to go. 
 
 As a Navy pilot, McCain lived through a July 1967 fire that killed 134 sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. The following October, his plane was shot down during a bombing mission over Hanoi. He spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. McCain also has survived several bouts with melanoma, a dangerous skin cancer. ||||| Sen. John McCain and his family are considering options for treating the tumor, including radiation and chemotherapy. McCain diagnosed with brain tumor McCain and his family are considering options for treating the tumor, including radiation and chemotherapy. 
 
 Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been diagnosed with a brain tumor following an operation to remove a blood clot above his left eye. 
 
 McCain and his family are considering options for treating the tumor, including radiation and chemotherapy. The 80-year-old McCain has previously successfully been treated for skin cancer. 
 
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 “The Senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with his Mayo Clinic care team. Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation," said a statement from the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. “The Senator’s doctors say he is recovering from his surgery ‘amazingly well’ and his underlying health is excellent.” 
 
 A statement from McCain's office said the veteran lawmaker is "in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona. He is grateful to the doctors and staff at Mayo Clinic for their outstanding care, and is confident that any future treatment will be effective." 
 
 According to the statement from the Mayo Clinic, McCain has a type of brain tumor called a glioblastoma. The American Brain Tumor Association says such tumors are "usually highly malignant," spread rapidly and are difficult to treat. 
 
 There is no word on if, or when, McCain will return to the Senate. His absence from Capitol Hill — while less important than McCain's health — does leave Republicans short a reliable vote as they try to take on health care and other contentious issues. 
 
 McCain currently serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has been serving as chairman in McCain's absence. 
 
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 The news shocked senators in both parties. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — McCain's closest friend in the Senate — came into meeting of Republicans senators on health care to tell them he had spoken to McCain and was told of the grim diagnosis. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) then led them in prayer for McCain's recovery. 
 
 "Talked to John, he said ‘Yeah, I might have to stay here a little bit longer, take some treatments. And I’ll be back,'" a visibly upset Graham told reporters on Wednesday night. 
 
 "And we talked for about five minutes, you know, gonna to be a tough way forward. But he says ‘I’ve been through worse’ and basically then we started talking about health care and the [defense authorization bill]. Literally, it went five minutes until he turned away from what I think most people would have a hard time absorbing and focused on what he loves the best." 
 
 "God knows how this ends, not me," Graham added. "But I do know this. This disease has never had a more worthy opponent.” 
 
 "We've already heard from him and he wants to get back. He's always thinking about the Senate and getting things done," said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.). "We prayed. It was very emotional. Almost kind of stunned disbelief for a minute." 
 
 McCain called Sen. Jeff Flake, his fellow Arizona Republican, to tell him the news as well, Flake said on Twitter. "Tough diagnosis, but an even tougher man." 
 
 A wave of lawmakers in both parties offered their support and prayers for their longtime colleague in an outpouring of support that demonstrated the deep respect McCain has earned up during 34 serving in Congress. 
 
 President Donald Trump said McCain "has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." 
 
 Former President Barack Obama — who defeated McCain in the 2008 presidential race — said McCain "is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've every known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John." 
 
 Hillary Clinton, who forged an unlikely but genuine friendship with McCain during their eight years together in the Senate, said McCain "is as tough as they come. Think of John, Cindy, their wonderful children and their whole family tonight." 
 
 But the most poignant comments came from Meghan McCain, the senator's daughter. The younger McCain released an emotional statement of her own. 
 
 "The news of my father's illness has affected every one of us in the McCain family. My grandmother, mother, brother, sisters, and I have all endured the shock of the news, and now we live with the anxiety about what comes next. It is an experience familiar to us given my father's previous battle with cancer — and it is familiar to the countless Americans whose loved ones are also stricken with the tragedy of disease and the inevitability of age." 
 
 The younger McCain described her father — a Navy pilot, Vietnam war hero, 2008 GOP presidential candidate — "as the one of us who is most confident and calm. He is the toughest person that I know ... Cancer may afflict him in many ways, but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has." 
 
 Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report. 
 
 This article tagged under: John McCain 
 
 Senate 
 
 Arizona ||||| CLOSE Sen. John McCain was hospitalized in early April with diverticulitis, an intestinal issue. Republic reporter Craig Harris reports from Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. Michael Chow/azcentral.com 
 
 U.S. Sen. John McCain is poised to miss President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech. (Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic) 
 
 John McCain's son-in-law, conservative pundit Ben Domenech, tweeted Saturday night that the senator, who is battling a deadly form of brain cancer, asked him to take care of his daughter, Meghan. 
 
 McCain, a six-term Arizona Republican, was released from the hospital last week. He had been in stable condition at the Mayo Clinic, according to his family and Senate office, following surgery for an intestinal infection related to diverticulitis. 
 
 McCain, 81, has been recovering at his family's retreat near Sedona, a tweet from his wife, Cindy, suggests. 
 
 Ben Domenech's tweet was posted at 8:16 p.m. Arizona time. It is unclear what prompted the message. He subsequently deleted the tweet sometime before 10 p.m. 
 
 WANT MORE JOHN MCCAIN?Read our entire series here 
 
 "John hugged me tonight. He asked me to take care of Meghan. I said I would," Domenech wrote. "F--k you soulless crazies. F--k you all the way to hell." 
 
 Domenech's followers largely responded by wishing him and the McCain family well. Others took personal shots at Domenech and did some name-calling of their own. 
 
 "God bless to you and Meghan and the McCain family," wrote @tonywendice1954. "Remember the vast majority of the American people support all of you. Don't listen to the crazies." 
 
 God bless to you and Meghan and the McCain family. Remember the vast majority of the American people support all of you. Don’t listen to the crazies. They’re just crazy. — TonyWendice (@tonywendice1954) April 29, 2018 
 
 In the hours leading up to his tweet, Domenech posted his review of the new political thriller from CNN's Jake Tapper, as well as his views on another pundit's post about the debacle surrounding President Donald Trump's nomination of Ronny Jackson to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
 
 Domenech, who publishes the online magazine the Federalist, married Meghan McCain last November. 
 
 McCain disclosed in July that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. 
 
 Since then, he has battled other health issues. 
 
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– Sen. John McCain has gone home to Arizona to recover from the side effects of chemotherapy, meaning he's likely to miss a vote on the Republican tax reform plan expected this week. After days of speculation about the 81-year-old senator's health, daughter Meghan McCain tweeted Sunday that he's doing well and will be spending Christmas in Arizona, reports the Arizona Republic. McCain, who has an aggressive form of brain cancer, was hospitalized last week at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland for what his office called "normal side effects of his ongoing cancer therapy." A source tells CNN that it was a "good sign" that McCain was able to board a plane to Arizona. McCain's office released a statement thanking well-wishers and saying he looks forward to returning to Washington in January. National Cancer Institute neuro-oncology chief Mark Gilbert said the senator is continuing to improve after being treated for a viral infection. President Trump said Sunday night that McCain was likely to miss the tax vote but would return if needed, the AP reports. "They've headed back, but I understand he'll come if we ever needed his vote, which hopefully we won't," he said. "It's too bad. He's going through a very tough time, there's no question about it. But he will come back if we need his vote." Trump also confirmed that he's not planning to fire Robert Mueller, though he said he's unhappy with how the investigation is being handled, USA Today reports.