For weeks, negotiators have agreed on a basic framework to renew the enhanced subsidies, a pandemic-era benefit that expired at the end of last year, but the question of abortion restrictions had emerged as the biggest stumbling block, with Democrats rebuffing Republicans’ insistence that Hyde needed to be tightened to prevent the alleged payouts.

“Look, we had Republicans saying, strictly, without any movement at all, there will never be a scenario in which a single solitary Republican will allow federal funding to pay for an abortion, period,” said Moreno, who is leading the GOP side of negotiations with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). “The Democrats were saying, well, we don’t think that’s happening, and we’re not looking to change the status quo, which is good.”

“So, what we came down to is, well, let’s do an audit to see if, in fact, insurance companies are funding abortions with federal tax dollars,” he said. “So that’s in there, and that will answer the question.”

It remains to be seen whether that language will be enough to overcome waning interest in the Obamacare subsidy negotiations, which emerged out of a 43-day government shutdown centered on healthcare. 

A handful of centrist Democrats have expressed openness to rework guardrails on the subsidies, including adding income limits and fraud measures, but Democratic leadership is still intent on a “clean” extension and has so far stayed out of the bipartisan talks.

Rank-and-file Republicans, meanwhile, appear skeptical of the audit language, with Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) noting that the Government Accountability Office has already scrutinized compliance with the Hyde Amendment.

He declined to weigh in on the merits of the bill until he’s had a chance to review the text but previously rebuffed President Donald Trump’s entreaty to congressional Republicans to be “flexible” on the abortion language.

Moreno told the Washington Examiner that he would not push for a proposal that cannot obtain the support of at least half of his conference, though he first wants to gauge Democrats’ interest.

“It seems to me that they don’t want to solve this problem, so we’re going to see if indeed they do,” Moreno said of Senate Democrats, telling reporters that he sent the legislative text to the four “most involved” in negotiations on Wednesday afternoon and was waiting to hear back.

The framework has not changed substantially since bipartisan talks on the subsidies began to fizzle out earlier this month. The bill would crack down on “ghost enrollees” by requiring a minimum $5 premium and limiting eligibility to taxpayers earning less than 700% of the federal poverty limit.

BERNIE MORENO ANGLES FOR MAJORITY GOP SUPPORT IN OBAMACARE SUBSIDY TALKS

But in a sign of how momentum has slipped, the legislation would now extend Obamacare enrollment to the end of March, rather than the beginning of the month as negotiators first proposed. 

“Time’s not on our side,” Moreno said, acknowledging that the window for a deal is closing. “I mean, we can’t let this go on too much longer.”