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American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.

Deepening Impact of Federal Closure

The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went without pay, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.

Trump's Plan from Florida Resort

As weekend session got under way, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.

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

GOP Endorsement

Multiple Republican senators welcomed 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 suggestion on social media, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.

"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."

Opposition Reaction

Democratic senators shared concerned responses to Trump's plan.

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

Another lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."

Continuing Negotiations

The Senate went into recess without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an emerging plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in exchange for a later vote on the ACA payments.

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

Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.

"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."

Partisan Situation

None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.

Some analysts indicated that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.

After his resort visit, Trump returned to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.