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American senators are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the federal closure began over a month ago, but expectations for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as Republican senators proposed a proposal toxic to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.

Deepening Impact of Federal Closure

The impact on Americans from the lengthiest shutdown of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, carriers were forced to cancel flights and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.

President's Plan from Florida Resort

As Saturday's meeting got started, Republican senators embraced a proposal made on social media early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for subsidies to be substituted by HSA-style 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 Endorsement

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

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

Another senator praised Trump's proposal on online platforms, and stood next to 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 public funds from going to carriers and instead give it straight to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."

Opposition Reaction

Democratic lawmakers expressed concerned reactions to Trump's plan.

"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been defeated by voters and Congress."

Another senator reacted to the criticism of carriers by posting: "Well, Trump and the Republicans can't stand how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Really? In that case I welcome your support for Medicare for All."

Ongoing Talks

The Senate adjourned without reaching a solution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the closure in return for a later vote on the Obamacare subsidies.

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

Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the payments before discussing the long-term of the tax credits.

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

Political Dynamics

Not one 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 lawmakers need the backing of eight Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of repealing and substituting Obamacare with HSAs is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.

Some analysts suggested that the essence of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that carriers cover patients with pre-existing conditions.

After his golf outing, Trump went back to his residence and reiterated on his demand that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough support in 2017.