Trump urges lawmakers to give healthcare money ‘directly to the people’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday proposed a new approach to break the deadlock over the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, suggesting that federal funds currently paid to insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act be redirected directly to American citizens.

“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,” President Trump wrote on social media.

“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,” he added, without providing further details about the plan.

The president’s remarks on Truth Social came shortly before the U.S. Senate was scheduled to reconvene at noon on Saturday after failing on Friday to pass legislation that would have resumed paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal workers impacted by the nation’s longest government shutdown.

Congress remains sharply divided on how to reopen the government. Democrats are pushing for a funding bill that includes healthcare subsidies set to expire for roughly 24 million Americans by year’s end. Republicans, however, argue that Congress should first pass a clean funding measure to reopen the government before addressing broader policy issues.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the president’s proposal. Representatives for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also declined to comment.

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