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US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the federal closure began more than a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to end the impasse appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, called Obamacare.

Deepening Consequences of Federal Closure

The effect on Americans from the longest closure of the federal government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.

President's Proposal from Golf Course

As Saturday's meeting got started, Republican 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 replaced 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 ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump wrote.

GOP Support

Several Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a alternative for Obamacare put forward in 2017.

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

Another senator praised Trump's proposal on social media, and displayed a large print of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.

"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator posted 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."

Democratic Response

Democratic lawmakers expressed concerned 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 defeated by voters and Congress."

Another senator responded to the criticism of carriers by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Seriously? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."

Continuing Negotiations

The Senate went into recess without reaching a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to terminate the shutdown in return for a future vote on the ACA payments.

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among moderates, said that Democrats "require another path forward" after Republicans rejected an proposal to restart the government and continue the payments for a year.

Another leading Democratic senator continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a 12-month continuation of the payments before negotiating the future of the tax credits.

"Inaction is derelict because citizens will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That is what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

Partisan Dynamics

Not one of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that consumers would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican lawmakers need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with HSAs is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.

Several observers suggested that the essence of such a proposal would remove the ACA's requirement that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.

After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that was unsuccessful to secure enough support in 2017.