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American lawmakers are meeting during the weekend for the initial time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a cross-party deal on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Growing Consequences of Federal Closure

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

Trump's Proposal from Florida Resort

As weekend session got under way, GOP senators embraced 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 posted.

Republican Endorsement

Several Republican senators welcomed the plan, which is similar to a alternative for Obamacare proposed in 2017.

"We will replace this broken system with something that is truly better for the patient," one senator stated.

Another senator commended Trump's proposal on online platforms, 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 wrote in response to Trump's proposal. "We need to stop taxpayer money from going to insurance companies and instead give it straight to Americans in HSA-style accounts and let them buy the medical coverage they want."

Democratic Response

Opposition senators expressed concerned responses to Trump's proposal.

"In other words, 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 defeated by voters and Congress."

Another senator responded to the criticism of insurance companies by writing: "Well, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are ripping-off Americans. Really? Then I applaud your support for universal healthcare."

Ongoing Negotiations

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

One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the talks among centrists, said that Democrats "need another path forward" after Republicans rejected an proposal to reopen the government and continue the subsidies for a year.

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

"Doing nothing is derelict because people will go into debt, people will lose insurance, people will get more ill," the senator said 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 patients would still need to buy plans from the same insurance companies, or that Republican legislators need the support of several Democrats to restart the government, and the concept of eliminating and replacing Obamacare with savings accounts is improbable to earn a single Democratic vote.

Several observers suggested that the core of such a plan would remove the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.

After his resort visit, Trump returned to his private club and doubled down on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking agreement and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a iteration of the proposal that was unsuccessful to garner enough backing in 2017.