Senate GOP braces to fight off efforts to rewrite $2.36 trillion budget

Senate GOP braces to fight off efforts to rewrite $2.36 trillion budget
March 5, 2004, 5:17 AM


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans pushing a $2.36 trillion budget for 2005 braced for an election-year test of whether lawmakers want to pare spending and huge deficits more sharply than President Bush has proposed.

The Senate Budget Committee used a party-line 12-10 vote Thursday to approve the measure after fending off a slew of Democratic efforts to trim its proposed tax cuts and add extra funds for deficit reduction, veterans and health programs.

The plan claims to halve record budget shortfalls in three years while boosting defense by less than Bush wants and culling savings from many domestic programs.

Democrats plan similar amendments when the Senate considers the package next week, hoping to draw support from GOP moderates in the narrowly divided chamber. They also want to call voters' attention to what they say are unacceptably high shortfalls, a five-year budget that they say masks worsening deficits later, and underfinanced priorities like education.
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