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1st LD Writethru: U.S. Senate passes its own GOP budget with military funding increase

Xinhua, March 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

The U.S. Senate early Friday passed a Republican-authored budget plan for fiscal year 2016 that embodies sharply cuts in domestic spending and rising military funding.

The budget plan, passed in a near party-line 52-36 vote, aims to slash federal deficit by 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars over the coming decade by mostly cutting health care and other benefit programs, while proposes to add about 38 billion dollars of defense spending in 2016 fiscal year.

Two Senate Republicans voted against the budget plan. They are Ted Cruz who announced his run for 2016 president this week and Rand Paul, considered as a GOP presidential contender.

The legislation, a non-binding blueprint, is similar to one passed by House Republicans on Wednesday. The House of Representatives' budget plan for 2016 also aims to slash federal spending by 5.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years, and add about 38 billion dollars to military funding.

Under the U.S. spending process, the budgets do not become law, but influence government agency funding bills later in the year. They also showcase the fiscal vision for Republicans, who now control both houses of Congress for the first time since 2006.

The two chambers will gather after an upcoming two-week recess and work out a combined budget, but a budget resolution is just a guide and has no power of law.

Both the House and Senate GOP budgets maintain the statutory spending caps, known as sequestration, which the White House has been seeking to remove.

After the passage of the Senate budget, the White House said in a statement that, "The president has been clear that he will not accept a budget that locks in sequestration or one that increases funding for our national security without providing matching increases in funding for our economic security."

The White House also criticized that the Senate GOP budget refused to raise taxes on the wealthy and put the deficit reduction burden on the middle-class and national security. Endite