US Senate Republicans vote to advance Trump's sweeping tax cut plan

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans took a procedural step forward on President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cut agenda on Thursday, overcoming concerns among some Republican lawmakers that the plan does not include sufficient spending cuts.

The Senate voted 52-48 to move forward with the framework to address Trump's proposals for tax cuts, border enforcement and increased military spending, which nonpartisan analysts warn could add $5.8 trillion to the federal government's debt over the next decade.

Lawmakers hope to pass the resolution after up to 50 hours of floor debate, and send it on to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Both chambers must approve the same budget resolution to unlock a key parliamentary tool that would allow Republicans to circumvent Senate Democrats and enact the Trump agenda later this year. That could take several months.

Thursday's vote came a day after the White House assured congressional Republicans that Trump supported their desire to include deep spending cuts in the bill.

The Senate Budget Committee plan estimates the cost of extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts, as well as delivering on sweeping new promises to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security retirement payments, at $1.5 trillion over a decade. That is far below the $4.5 trillion cost estimated in a blueprint that passed the House in February.

The Senate and House cost estimates differ because Senate Republicans intend to use a controversial approach that claims extending the 2017 tax cuts will not add to the nation's debt.

Top Senate Republican John Thune, of South Dakota, huddled before the vote with fellow Republicans to address concerns about that controversial approach. Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who attended the closed-door meeting, said leaders assuaged worries including whether Republicans would try to overrule the Senate parliamentarian, the chamber's gatekeeper on rules, if she opposed the move later in the year when legislation to enact the Trump agenda reaches the Senate floor.

"I think the answer to that is, 'no,'" Cornyn told reporters.

The Senate measure also calls for a $5 trillion increase in the borrowing limit on the $36.6 trillion debt, which Republicans say will prevent the issue from coming up again until after the 2026 midterm elections.

The Senate blueprint contains an aspirational goal of cutting $2 trillion in spending from domestic programs that increased during the COVID pandemic, as a way of winning House support.

But House Republicans have voiced skepticism about the blueprint, citing enforceable spending-cut goals that seek only a few billion dollars in spending reductions.

Democrats have warned that lawmakers will have a hard time achieving their $2 trillion spending-cut goal without cutting deeply into the Medicaid health insurance plan for low-income Americans.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated the Senate budget measure could add about $5.8 trillion to the U.S. debt in the next decade.

Nonpartisan budget analysts have estimated that adopting all of Trump's tax proposals could cost up to $11 trillion.