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US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as GOP senators proposed a plan unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.

Deepening Consequences of Government Shutdown

The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were compelled to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.

President's Proposal from Florida Resort

As Saturday's session got started, GOP senators welcomed a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.

"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.

GOP Support

Multiple Republican senators praised the proposal, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.

"We will replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer," one senator stated.

Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and stood next to a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.

"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."

Opposition Response

Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal.

"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another calculated attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been rejected by the public and Congress."

Another senator responded to the censure of insurance companies by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for universal healthcare."

Ongoing Talks

The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an developing proposal from a handful of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a future vote on the Obamacare payments.

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.

Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the tax credits.

"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator said in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

Partisan Dynamics

None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.

Some analysts indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.

After his resort visit, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.