Copyright Newsweek
In a Truth Social post on Saturday morning, President Donald Trump recommended to Senate Republicans that money sent to insurance companies through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, should instead be sent directly to Americans to handle their healthcare concerns. Newsweek reached out to the White House and Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office by email on Saturday morning outside of normal business hours for comment. Why It Matters The federal government remains closed in what has become the longest government shutdown in American history as Democrats hold out for assurances that tax credits available to vulnerable Americans to afford healthcare through the ACA will continue for at least another year. The impacts of the shutdown have started to pile up and the government scrambling to cover shortfalls that appear as the funding continues to dry up, including pay for military personnel, coverage of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and pay for essential workers such as air traffic controllers. Republicans have tried to blame Democrats for the shutdown despite holding the majority in the Senate where 60 votes are needed to pass legislation. However, Election Day this year saw Democrats score big wins in key races, including the New York City mayoral election and the gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. Trump has reportedly blamed the shutdown for those losses, and recent polling has shown that over half of voters believe he and congressional Republicans are more to blame for the shutdown. What To Know Trump has started exploring several options to try and end the shutdown, even considering the "nuclear option" of eliminating the filibuster, which congressional Republicans have resisted. In his Truth Social post on Saturday, the president raised another possible option, which would see money taken from the ACA and instead directed to Americans, although it remains unclear exactly what this would mean for Americans. The president wrote that he has recommended 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." Trump added: "In other words, take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and terminate, per Dollar spent, the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World, ObamaCare. Unrelated, we must still terminate the Filibuster!" The president didn't specify what healthcare Americans would be purchasing to get around "money sucking Insurance Companies," although many on social media have understood it to mean that he wants the subsidies that Democrats have looked to secure should go directly to Americans rather than to the insurance companies so that people can buy better insurance outright. Newsweek has contacted the White House on Saturday for clarification on this matter. What People Are Saying Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, wrote on X on Friday: "Democrats really need to search their consciences and ask themselves whether they are willing to require 'planes falling out of the sky' before they vote to pay federal employees, including air traffic controllers. Or better yet, they can simply vote to reopen the government." Representative Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, wrote on X on Friday: "It would cost $38 billion to extend ACA credits next year and prevent millions of people from losing their healthcare. Reminder: Trump sent $40 billion to Argentina for no reason." Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, wrote on X on Friday: "When a WI woman asked Sen Johnson what options she'd have without the ACA if she tested positive for the genetic pre-existing condition that killed her mom, he said he would force her back into the high-risk pools that made anyone with pre-existing conditions pay double for care." What Happens Next? Senate Republicans and Democrats continue debating how they can end the shutdown, with each side offering compromise deals in order to move pass the standoff.
