Key Points:
- President Trump proposed a compromise on health insurance payments in a Truth Social post on Saturday morning.
- He called on Republicans to send federal payments, which would normally go to insurers under the Affordable Care Act, directly to Americans.
- This proposal follows the rejection of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s plan, which could have ended the government shutdown.
- The shutdown became the longest in U.S. history earlier this week.
President Donald Trump has put forward a new proposal regarding health insurance payments, suggesting that Senate Republicans send federal payments — funds that would typically be allocated to insurers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — directly to the American people. Trump’s proposal aims to address the ongoing government shutdown.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump stated, “I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the hundreds of 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, and have money left over.” He did not provide further details on how this plan would be implemented.
This post came a day after Senate Republicans rejected a proposal from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that could have potentially ended the ongoing government shutdown. The shutdown, which began on October 1, is now the longest in U.S. history.
The Democrats’ proposal, made on Friday, suggested extending federal ACA subsidies for at least one year, in exchange for dropping their demand for a longer-term extension of Obamacare tax credits in a stopgap funding bill. These subsidies, which benefit more than 20 million Americans, are set to expire at the end of December unless Congress acts to extend them.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) dismissed the Democrats’ proposal, calling it a “non-starter.”
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment or provide specifics on how Trump’s suggested direct payment plan would work. Representatives for Schumer, Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Congressional lawmakers remain in a deadlock, with no agreement on how to end the shutdown. Democrats are insisting that any funding bill must include healthcare subsidies for 24 million Americans, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans, however, are demanding that a funding bill be passed first, without any additional conditions, to allow the government to reopen before tackling other issues.
In several Truth Social posts on Saturday, Trump also reiterated his call for terminating the Senate filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes in the Senate to pass most legislation. The GOP currently holds 53 seats in the Senate, while the Democrats have 45, with two independents who caucus with them.
Senate Republicans have pushed back against changing the filibuster rule, with several senators stating earlier this week that they would not support such a move. Trump has urged his party to use what he has termed “the Nuclear Option” to eliminate the filibuster.
On Saturday, Trump claimed that he was “making progress” with Republicans on changing the rule, adding, “The Democrats are cracking like dogs on the shutdown because they are deathly afraid that I am making progress with the Republicans on TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER! Whether we make a deal or not, THE REPUBLICANS MUST ‘BLOW UP’ THE FILIBUSTER,” he wrote.