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US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to end the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Growing Consequences of Federal Closure

The impact on Americans from the longest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.

President's Plan from Florida Resort

As Saturday's session got under way, Republican 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 replaced by HSA-style accounts.

"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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

Several Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.

"We're going to replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.

Another senator praised Trump's proposal on online platforms, 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 wrote in response to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop public funds 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 Reaction

Democratic senators shared concerned responses to Trump's proposal.

"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to eliminate Obamacare," one Democratic senator commented. "It's the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."

Another senator reacted to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."

Ongoing Negotiations

The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing proposal from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the shutdown in exchange for a future 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 restart the government and continue the payments for a year.

Another leading Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.

"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go into debt, 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

Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.

Some observers suggested that the core of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.

After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a version of the proposal that failed to garner enough support in 2017.