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US lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but expectations for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the standoff appeared to diminish as GOP senators floated a proposal toxic to Democrats: eliminating the ACA, known as Obamacare.

Deepening Impact of Government Shutdown

The impact on Americans from the longest closure of the US government in history worsened on Saturday, as government employees went without pay, airlines were forced to ground planes and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been delayed for 42 million Americans.

Trump's Plan from Golf Course

As weekend meeting got started, GOP senators welcomed 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.

"I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking 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.

GOP Support

Multiple Republican senators welcomed the proposal, which is comparable with a replacement for Obamacare proposed 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 proposal on social media, and stood next to 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 wrote in reply to Trump's suggestion. "We need to 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 Reaction

Opposition lawmakers shared concerned reactions to Trump's plan.

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

Another senator reacted to the criticism of insurance companies 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 universal healthcare."

Continuing Negotiations

The Senate went into recess without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have indicated an openness to an emerging plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the shutdown in exchange for a later vote on the ACA subsidies.

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

Another senior Democratic lawmaker continued in arguing that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the payments before negotiating the future of the subsidies.

"Inaction is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker," the senator said in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress does nothing."

Partisan Dynamics

None of the Republican senators seemed to grapple with the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same carriers, or that Republican legislators need the backing of several Democrats to restart the government, and the idea of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.

Some observers indicated that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's requirement that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.

After his resort visit, Trump went back to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to repeal and overhaul Obamacare with a iteration of the plan that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.