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US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.

Growing Impact of Government Shutdown

The impact on US citizens from the lengthiest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, carriers were forced 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 under way, GOP senators welcomed a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by HSA-style accounts.

"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of 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 wrote.

GOP Endorsement

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

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

Another senator commended Trump's suggestion on online platforms, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he spoke 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 HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."

Democratic Response

Opposition lawmakers shared alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.

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

Another lawmaker responded to the censure of insurance companies by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."

Ongoing Negotiations

The Senate went into recess without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in exchange for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.

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 subsidies for a year.

Another senior Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the long-term of the subsidies.

"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 fails to act."

Partisan Dynamics

None of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.

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

After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.