Senate Republicans narrowly passed a $4 trillion budget plan Thursday, taking their first big step toward a tax reform package promised by President Donald Trump.
Approval of the nonbinding plan allows the Senate to use a special process known as "budget reconciliation" that would forestall a Democratic filibuster.
"Tonight we completed the first step towards
replacing our broken tax code by passing a comprehensive, fiscally responsible
budget that will help put the federal government on a path to balance,"
said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "We have a
once-in-a-generation opportunity to replace a failing tax code that holds
Americans back with one that works for them."
The Senate plan, approved on a 51-49 vote, calls for $473
billion in cuts from Medicare over 10 years and more than $1 trillion from
Medicaid.
If fully implemented, the plan would cut spending by more
than $5 trillion over the next 10 years, with an average of approximately $540
billion per year over the life of the plan, according to a Congressional Budget
Office estimate.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Republican to vote
against the bill, joining all 46 Democrats and two independents.
"We can’t spend our way to prosperity," Paul
said in a statement. "I will fight for the biggest, boldest tax cut we can
pass, but I could not in good conscience vote for a budget that ignores
spending caps that have been the law of the land for years and simply pretend
it didn’t matter."
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., returned to Washington after
receiving treatment for urological problems to vote for the measure. Other
Republican moderates -- including Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Bob Corker of
Tennessee, and Susan Collins of Maine -- backed the effort.
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Pleased to vote for #budget
blueprint giving Congress an opportunity to pass comprehensive #taxreform. http://bit.ly/2xRPIXC
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The House passed its version of the budget plan last
week. It calls for tax cuts that don't add to the deficit and would pair the
tax rewrite measure with $200 billion in spending cuts over the coming decade.
Both plans include a provision to permit oil and gas exploration in Alaska's
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blasted the
GOP framework as "nasty and backwards."
"It shifts the burden from the wealthy and puts it
squarely on the back of the middle class, and blows a hole in the deficit to
boot," Schumer said in a statement. "I think it will go down in
history as one of the worst budgets Congress has ever passed."
Fox
News' Chad Pergram and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
