WASHINGTON — Republican senators pushed back on the idea that Congress ought to receive an exemption from the health-care exchanges required under Obamacare, after Politico reported Thursday that leaders from both parties had been involved in negotiations to do just that for aides and lawmakers.

The report says that lawmakers are concerned that if aides’ health insurance premiums are not subsidized by their employer, the federal government, they could see those costs skyrocket to levels they might not be able to pay. It is not clear if under Obamacare, the federal government would be able to do so.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a terse an disapproving statement.

“Obamacare is a train wreck. Congress shouldn’t be able to get out of Obamacare until everyone else does,” he said.

“I voted against imposing the new health-care law on America, but I don’t think Congress ought to be treated any differently than the rest of the country,” said Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee in a statement emailed to The Daily Caller.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a freshman Republican from Texas who has been adamant about the need to repeal the health-care law in full, wrote on Twitter that the whole country should be getting an exemption, not just Congress.

“Rather than exempt Congress from Obamacare, we ought to work on permanently exempting all of America w/ a #FullRepeal,” he tweeted Thursday morning.

Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia had a similar take.