The Senate is fast running out of time to hammer out a bipartisan deal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is still prepared to hold a vote on a proposal next week. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"I mean, my assumption is that by next week, when we have to have that vote, that we might not be far enough along in the bipartisan discussions. But my assumption is we'll still have a vote of some kind, because that's what we're committed to do," Thune said.
Bipartisan talks have been ongoing, both during the shutdown and in the weeks after. But those have yet to yield a plan that could muster the 60 votes necessary to break through the filibuster in the upper chamber.
Republicans want to see reforms to the program and are floating proposals that would see money from the subsidies that normally flows to insurance companies be sent directly to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) — a plan previously floated by President Donald Trump.
Democrats, however, want a cleaner extension of subsidies but are open to reforms either up front or down the line.
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Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, speaks at a press conference with other Senate Democrats who voted to restore government funding, in Washington, Nov. 9, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"If you look at the numbers, there are people who are in their 50s and 60s who will really, like, pay a third of their income for insurance on the exchange, and so the Democrats have set it up so there's a cliff at the end of this year, and we're trying to avoid that cliff," Cassidy said.
"So [we’re] looking for a way that can take care of those folks but begin to transition to a system which is much more workable," he continued. "The Obamacare subsidy system is not workable."
Cassidy and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, pitched ideas and options during the Senate GOP’s closed-door lunch on Tuesday, but there still wasn’t a solid consensus on a path forward on a Republican proposal.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said it would take "divine intervention" for Republicans to agree on a plan to vote on by Thune’s deadline next week.
"Have you ever heard of a Rorschach test where it's smeared all over the wall? That's kind of where we’re at," Kennedy said.
Members on both sides of the aisle believe that Trump should get more involved, too, given that anything that passes the Senate and works through the House would need his signature to become law.
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Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, one of the eight Democratic caucus members that voted to reopen the government with Republicans, said that it would help if Trump told the Senate GOP to make a deal.
"I think the easiest, clearest thing would be a straight extension with some modest reforms, and then we can move on," King said. "And frankly, if it doesn't happen, then the Republicans can own massive premium increases. And I don't know why they would want to do that."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bipartisan-deal-obamacare-subsidies-fades-republicans-push-hsa-plan