According to the AP, US President Barack Obama is willing to embrace insurance cooperatives over a government-run plan as the White House faces mounting opposition to its broad overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

Bowing to Republican pressure and offering political cover to fiscally conservative Democrats, Obama’s administration signaled on Sunday that it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance, the agency says. The shift leaves open a chance for compromise with Republicans that probably would enrage Obama’s liberal supporters but could deliver a much-needed victory on a top domestic priority.

Officials from both political parties are looking for concessions while Congress is on an August recess. Facing tough audiences, lawmakers and the White House are looking for a way to cover the nation’s almost 50 million uninsured while maintaining political standing.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that a government alternative to private health insurance is “not the essential element” of the administration’s health care overhaul. The White House would be open to co-ops, she said, a sign that Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory.

Under a proposal by Democratic Senator Kent Conrad, consumer-owned nonprofit cooperatives would sell insurance in competition with private industry, not unlike the way electric and agriculture co-ops operate, especially in rural states such as his own, the AP says.

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