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American lawmakers are working through the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as Republican senators floated a plan toxic to Democrats: eliminating the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Growing Impact of Government Shutdown

The effect on US citizens from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.

Trump's Proposal from Golf Course

As weekend meeting got started, Republican senators welcomed a suggestion made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings 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 bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.

GOP Support

Multiple Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed in 2017.

"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the patient," 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'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop public funds from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."

Opposition Response

Opposition senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal.

"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another calculated attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same unsuccessful Republican plan that's been defeated by the public and Congress."

Another senator 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."

Continuing Talks

The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to end the closure in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an offer to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.

Another leading Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.

"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That is what will happen if this Congress fails to act."

Political Situation

Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the support of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.

Several analysts 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 golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and doubled down on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.