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US lawmakers are working through the weekend for the initial 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 proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure

The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were compelled to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for forty-two million Americans.

Trump's Plan from Florida Resort

As weekend session 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 subsidies to be replaced by health savings accounts.

"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Billions of Dollars currently being sent to profit-driven 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 Support

Several Republican senators praised the plan, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.

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

Another senator commended Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he spoke on the Senate floor.

"I am drafting the bill right now," a third senator wrote in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."

Opposition Reaction

Opposition lawmakers shared alarmed responses to Trump's plan.

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

Another senator reacted to the censure of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? Then I applaud your support for Medicare for All."

Continuing Talks

The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an willingness to an developing plan from a small group of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a later vote on the Obamacare payments.

One Democratic senator, who is leading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an proposal to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.

Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in maintaining that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before discussing the long-term of the subsidies.

"Doing nothing is irresponsible because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

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 legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a solitary Democratic vote.

Several observers suggested that the essence of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.

After his resort visit, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.