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US senators are working through the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to recede as Republican senators proposed a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, known as Obamacare.

Growing Impact of Government Shutdown

The effect on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history deepened on Saturday, as government employees went unpaid, carriers were forced to ground planes and SNAP benefits have been postponed for forty-two million Americans.

Trump's Plan from Florida Resort

As Saturday's meeting got under way, GOP senators welcomed a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings accounts.

"I am recommending 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 posted.

GOP Support

Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative 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 stated.

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

"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted in reply to Trump's proposal. "We must stop taxpayer money from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the health care they want."

Democratic Response

Opposition lawmakers expressed alarmed reactions to Trump's proposal.

"In other words, Donald Trump's 'proposal' for health care is another cynical 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 writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the large insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? Then I welcome your support for universal healthcare."

Ongoing Negotiations

The Senate adjourned without finding a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an willingness to an developing plan from a handful of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in return for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.

One Democratic senator, who is leading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another way ahead" after Republicans rejected an offer to restart the government and extend the payments for a year.

Another senior Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a 12-month continuation of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the tax credits.

"Doing nothing is derelict because citizens will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator stated in a Senate address. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

Political Situation

None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy plans from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.

Some analysts indicated 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 returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a version of the proposal that was unsuccessful to secure enough backing in 2017.