The government shutdown is over. And as we have reported, that entire debacle BEGAN with a fight over healthcare. The Democrats were infamously demanding FREE HEALTHCARE FOR ILLEGALS at the start of it all, though they tried to hide that demand with help from the media. But then on top of that, they wanted Republicans to continue subsidizing the failed UN-Affordable Care Act. Now, with the shutdown over… and none of those outlandish demands from the Democrats met — President Trump is poised to deliver a deathblow to Obamacare. His intentions to scrap Obamacare are not new. But he just announced his commitment to overhauling the basic system of HIGHLY INFLATED subsidy payments from the federal government going directly to insurance companies. Instead, he wants any funds payed out under the ACA to go STRAIGHT to the pockets of Americans. The full extent of his plan is still being worked out — we could be looking at a complete REPLACEMENT of Obamacare judging by some of the President’s statements. At the very least, this will be a step in the right direction; if President Trump and Republicans in Congress can pull it off. Check out this clip of the President speaking from the Oval Office yesterday, throwing down the gauntlet against Obamacare: As I said, President Trump has been consistently against Obamacare. But within the past few days — knowing the Democrats didn’t have a leg to stand on with their non-existent shutdown demands — he seems to have realized that now is the time to strike. The President started ramping up his rhetoric against Obamacare more than a week ago, while the shutdown fight still raged. Check out this Truth Social post he put out last week, calling on Congressional Republicans to ‘TERMINATE’ Obamacare!: Here’s the full text of his post from last Saturday, in case that’s hard to make out: 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. 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 consistency of the President’s comments on the payout change indicates to me that he is digging in his heels for a fight. Two days ago he went on Fox News with Laura Ingraham. She asked him about Obamacare, specifically about the SUBSIDIES required to make Obamacare ‘work’. Check out this clip in which he iterates several key points of how he wants to change the current payout system: Trump: “What I want is instead of going to the insurance companies, I want the money to go into an account for people where the people buy their own health insurance. It’s so good. The insurance will be better. It’ll cost less. Everybody is gonna be happy. They’re gonna feel like… pic.twitter.com/XFFtdQebmm — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 11, 2025 While that isn’t on par with a full repeal, and it doesn’t completely do away with the subsidized system — which would be preferable if we were to put this thing back on a CONSERVATIVE track… His plan would do three big things according to what he said in that clip: It would allow individuals to shop and choose their own healthcare plan, as opposed to being FORCED into a plan by the government… While ensuring those funds couldn’t be misused — they can only go for health insurance. It would by effect help correct the inflated price gouging on the part of insurance companies by returning a competitive atmosphere to the health insurance market. House Speaker Johnson seems to be in lockstep with the President’s planned overhaul, at least in theory, as reported by Fox News: President Donald Trump has urged Senate Republicans to abolish Obamacare and reroute federal health care spending directly to individual Americans. Trump and Republicans have renewed their criticism of the program amid the government shutdown, arguing it drives up costs and enriches insurance companies at taxpayers’ expense. Trump spent much of his first term trying to repeal the law. Obama and Democrats argue it made health care more available and affordable for millions of Americans. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday told reporters Thursday that he would not commit to holding a vote on extending COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year without congressional action. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had been floating a vote on such an extension in exchange for Democrats voting to end the shutdown. The issue of enhanced Obamacare subsidies has been a matter of debate within the GOP, with some Republicans in more moderate districts calling for at least a year-long extension to give lawmakers time to create a new healthcare deal in its place. If you noticed the section I highlighted in bold from that Fox News article, you probably already know I’m laughing at the Democrats right now. They pushed and pushed to get the Senate Majority Leader to promise to at least give them a vote on continuing the Obamacare subsidies… Which EVEN IF THE SENATE PASSED a continuing resolution to keep funding Obamacare — it doesn’t mean anything if the Speaker of the House doesn’t cave! Well played, Republicans.  (For a change…) Journalist Eric Daugherty shared a clip of Speaker Johnson talking about the issue yesterday, in fact. Check out that clip here, in which Johnson hints at a renewed focus on fixing Obamacare, and points out that premiums have risen by more than 60% in many cases under Obamacare: JUST IN: Speaker Johnson is taking a BLOWTORCH to the “Affordable Care Act” Obamacare as Democrats seek to give money to Big Insurance. President TRUMP wants it going right to the people. “They wanna subsidize insurance companies! […] THEY created the subsidy. THEY’RE the… pic.twitter.com/UZ9lNzMZ2M — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 13, 2025 Here’s the full text of Daugherty’s post with several quotes from that clip. Notice the part where he excitedly alludes to “next week”, apparently referencing the focus on changing Obamacare once the shutdown had ended: JUST IN: Speaker Johnson is taking a BLOWTORCH to the “Affordable Care Act” Obamacare as Democrats seek to give money to Big Insurance. President TRUMP wants it going right to the people. “They wanna subsidize insurance companies! […] THEY created the subsidy. THEY’RE the ones who set it to expire Dec. 31, 2025…now, they claim it’s Republicans’ fault?” “The Democrats created it. The Democrats broke it. The Democrats are driving your costs up. Who are you gonna trust on healthcare? It’s the Republican Party!” “Next week. Get ready! We’re gonna give you a timeline of WHO destroyed American healthcare. And I’ll give you a hint – it didn’t have ANYTHING to do with the GOP. It was the Democrats.” “Your premiums have gone up by 60% or MORE.” Pass Trump’s plan! While I have MANY more fish to fry with Obamacare, I have to admit that simply changing the path of the cash would be an enormous improvement. And at least one Republican Senator is busy creating a possible bill to put the President’s overhaul into action, according to this report from CNN: Trump urged Senate Republicans in a Truth Social post on Saturday to send the money used to offset the costs of ACA health care premiums “directly to the people” so they can “purchase their own, much better, health care.” The president did not provide any further details, though fiscal hawk GOP Sen. Rick Scott enthusiastically announced on X that he’s “writing the bill right now.” More than 90% of Obamacare enrollees qualify for the enhanced subsidies in 2025. Republicans have decried the subsidy system as enriching insurers, with some supporting sending the funds directly to Americans to give them more control over their health insurance decisions. Trump’s appeal to Senate Republicans comes as Democratic lawmakers are digging in on their attempt to force the GOP to the negotiating table on extending the enhanced ACA subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year. House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated that his conference is working on a health care plan to address their concerns about the existing system under Obamacare, though GOP leaders have not divulged any details. The failure of Obamacare goes even deeper than the subsidies required to make it work. The problem is that the system is now (INTENTIONALLY) so complex, held together with the financial equivalent of duct tape, that it becomes incredibly hard to tweak. I would hope for a complete repeal, and a return to true conservative principles in a replacement. And who knows — we might get to that point as the President’s push to ‘fix’ Obamacare takes shape. The push to take on Obamacare seems to be just now truly coming into focus for this Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress. With the shutdown behind us, and Democrats left standing on thin ice — I’m expecting big moves in that direction in the coming days. We’ll bring you all the details as it plays out.