Trump renews attacks on Obamacare in new push over government shutdown

President Donald Trump took a new line toward ending the government shutdown this weekend, attacking the Affordable Care Act tax credits that Democrats are demanding be extended and calling instead for the subsidies to go directly to consumers.

Through social media posts, the president renewed his attacks on the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, which he has spent years assailing and promising to replace, but to no avail. Trump suggested that premiums for consumers and share prices for insurers had risen too much in the 15 years since the law passed, and he was ready to work on a solution - if Democrats reopened the government first.

"I stand ready to work with both Parties to solve this problem once the Government is open," he wrote Sunday.

Trump has insisted for more than a month that Democrats sign on to a Republican measure to reopen the government, without the concessions they have sought on health programs, including the subsidies. Republicans have said they would be willing to discuss extending them after Democrats back their stopgap bill, but Democrats have balked.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the minority leader, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he and his colleagues were not willing to accept "a promise, a wink and a prayer, from folks who have been devastating the health care of the American people for years."

Senate Democrats did offer Friday to substantially scale back their demands, saying they would be willing to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, but Republicans quickly rejected the offer.

On Saturday, Trump said that he would recommend to Senate Republicans that funds being sent to "money sucking Insurance Companies" instead go to the people, so they can "PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE."

On Sunday, he attacked Obamacare and Democrats, who he said were looking to enrich "their best friends" in insurance companies. The country, he wrote, was "being terrorized by Democrats who have decided to shut the Government down to make me and other Republicans continue ObamaCare subsidies, which have been a windfall for Health Insurance Companies, and a DISASTER for the American People."

But Trump offered no details about what such a plan could look like, how it could save money for consumers, or how funds sent to Americans for health care costs would not end up going to insurance companies, anyway. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview Sunday with ABC's "This Week" that there had been no formal proposal to the Senate.

Even so, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., quickly endorsed the notion, calling it "simply brilliant."

"I am completely onboard with your recommendation," he wrote on social media.

Trump repeatedly called for the Affordable Care Act to be replaced during his first term, but no viable approach ever materialized. During his lone debate last year against Vice President Kamala Harris, he acknowledged he had only "concepts of a plan" but went on to promise a new one "in the not-too-distant future."

With Democrats steadfast about the need for the subsidies to be extended - and policyholders starting to see how much their costs would increase without them - Trump has also pushed Senate Republicans to end the filibuster, which would allow them to pass their funding measure with a simple majority. But Republicans fear such a move would come back to haunt them if Democrats were to regain the majority.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.