WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans pushed a balanced-budget blueprint toward late-night approval Thursday, laying down conservative markers for a likely veto struggle with President Barack Obama over their plans to erase deficits through trillions in spending cuts and repeal of the health care law.
Approval of the nonbinding budget was a certainty, one day after the House ratified a slightly different version on a party-line vote.
Separately, legislation to stabilize the system for paying physicians who treat Medicare patients cleared the House during the day and is expected to pass the Senate. As a result, the week’s events gave credence to Republican claims that their new, two-house majority would be able to govern without the chaos that has often plagued Congress in recent years.
But first, senators plunged into a peculiarly senatorial ritual known inside the Capitol as “vote-a-rama” — bringing up dozens of proposed changes designed largely to score political points on issues as diverse as the sage grouse and the minimum wage.
With work proceeding at a glacial pace, Sen. Mike Enzi announced at dinnertime that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was hosting dinner for senators, and that Democratic Leader Harry Reid would handle tonight’s meal. “We need a volunteer for breakfast and lunch for tomorrow,” the Wyoming Republican said to nervous laughter.
The 10-year budget plan itself was nonbinding, although Republicans said it would lead to tangible gains for hard-pressed consumers.
McConnell, R-Ky., said it included ideas “that could boost jobs, raise annual wages by as much as $5,000 per family and drive economic growth for hard-working Americans.” He cited an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for his claim.
Democrats found little to like, and were expected to oppose it unanimously.
With 54 seats in the Senate, Republicans could afford three defections and still be assured a majority for the budget. Even that presented a challenge, though. Four members of the rank and file are likely or announced presidential contenders, and several more face potentially difficult 2016 re-election tests in swing states.
The Senate GOP plan envisions more than $5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade without higher taxes, resulting in a $3 billion surplus in the 10th year of the coming decade.
By comparison, Obama’s budget, presented to Congress over the winter, envisions about $2 trillion in higher taxes on the wealthy, corporations and smokers of all income levels, as well as more spending on domestic programs. It fails to balance at any point in the coming 10 years.
The largest components of deficit reduction in the Senate budget, about $4.3 trillion over the decade, would come from benefit programs. That would include repeal of the health care law — a step Obama has vowed to veto — as well as unspecified reductions from projected growth in Medicaid, food stamps, welfare and other social programs that are also likely to trigger White House opposition.
Democrats took aim at 10-year savings of $435 billion in Medicare contained in the GOP blueprint, but failed on a 54-46 party-line vote to reverse them and push deficits higher by an identical amount. Republicans pointed out that Obama has proposed almost the same level of cuts in the program.
