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

Growing Consequences of Federal Closure

The impact on Americans from the lengthiest closure of the federal 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 42 million Americans.

President's Proposal from Florida Resort

As weekend session got started, GOP senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his golf course in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by health savings 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.

Republican Support

Several Republican senators welcomed 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 truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.

Another senator commended Trump's proposal 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 posted in response to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."

Democratic Reaction

Democratic senators expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's plan.

"In other words, 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 senator reacted to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for Medicare for All."

Continuing Talks

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

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

Another senior Democratic lawmaker persisted in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the payments before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.

"Inaction is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

Political Situation

Not one 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 concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a solitary Democratic vote.

Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with existing health issues.

After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.