A federal court judge refused on Friday to drop a lawsuit against two psychologists who helped devise the C.I.A.’s interrogation program after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, clearing the way for the case to proceed to a trial in September.

The suit is one of the few attempts to hold people accountable for harm caused by the Central Intelligence Agency’s program in the years after the 2001 attacks.

The three plaintiffs had argued that they were detained and tortured in secret C.I.A. prisons using techniques designed by the two former military psychologists, who served as C.I.A. contractors. Most of the techniques used against the detainees have since been banned by the United States government.

(This Monday night) Democrat Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, spoke on the floor at length criticizing the bill, further from the spotlight.

Hirono, 69, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in May, and she took to the floor Monday night to advocate against the Republican plan, whose exact details are still developing as senators add and debate amendments.

“I was able to sit down with my doctor and decide how I was going to fight my cancer, not how I was going to pay for it. No one should have to worry about how whether they can afford the health care that one day might save their life,” Hirono said. “Healthcare is personal.”

On Tuesday, the same day she participated in the Senate vote, Hirono had surgery to remove a lesion on her ribs.

Senators like Hirono and McCain are mandated to buy health insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges, where they often receive significant