By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on Sunday on his push to gut Obamacare healthcare subsidies, which his Democratic opponents have insisted on preserving as a condition for ending the 40-day government shutdown.
Trump on Saturday urged Republican senators to take federal money used to subsidize health insurance bought on Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and instead send payments to individuals buying coverage.
The federal government has been shut down since October
1, making it the longest federal shutdown ever, because of a congressional impasse over healthcare.
The ACA subsidies, which helped double Obamacare enrollment to 24 million since they were put in place in 2021, are at the heart of the shutdown. Democrats want to extend them before reopening the government, while Republicans say they are open to addressing the issue only after government funding is restored.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday to blast the subsidies as a "windfall for Health Insurance Companies, and a DISASTER for the American people," while repeating his call for funds to be sent directly to individuals to buy coverage on their own. "I stand ready to work with both Parties to solve this problem once the Government is open," Trump wrote.
This weekend's posts from Trump came as senators were deep in talks over ways to end the shutdown. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, said in separate interviews that Trump's healthcare idea will not be introduced before lawmakers pass a federal funding measure.
"We're not proposing it to the Senate right now," Bessent said in an interview with ABC's "This Week," referring to Trump's proposed direct payments. "We are not going to negotiate with the Democrats until they reopen the government."
Americans shopping for 2026 Obamacare health insurance plans are facing a more than doubling of monthly premiums on average, health experts estimate, with the pandemic-era subsidies due to expire at the end of the year.
Republicans rejected a proposal made on Friday by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, to vote to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of tax credits that lower costs for plans under the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare.
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff said on Sunday he believed Trump's healthcare proposal was aimed at gutting the ACA and allowing insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
"So the same insurance companies he's railing against in those tweets, he is saying, 'I'm going to give you more power to cancel people's policies and not cover them if they have a pre-existing condition,'" Schiff said on ABC's "This Week" program.
Sunday marked the 40th day of the shutdown, which has sidelined federal workers and affected food aid, parks and air travel, with air traffic control staffing shortages threatening to derail travel during the busy Thanksgiving holiday season.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Saturday that bipartisan talks had taken a positive turn, with lawmakers working on deals to temporarily reopen the government and introduce three longer-term funding bills for some agencies.
Should the government remain closed for much longer, economic growth could turn negative in the fourth quarter, especially if people are not traveling as normal by Thanksgiving, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett warned on CBS' "Face the Nation" show. Thanksgiving falls on November 27 this year.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, Matt Tracy in Washington, and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Sergio Non and Chris Reese)
