Not to be outdone by the Republican House and its
draconian budget resolution, Senate Republicans
passed their own budget which also shreds the safety net. And repeals Obamacare.
The Senate passed a Republican-authored budget plan early on Friday that seeks $5.1 trillion in domestic spending cuts over 10 years while boosting military funding.
The 52-46 vote on the non-binding budget resolution put Congress on a path to complete its first full budget in six years. It came at the end of a marathon 18-hour session that saw approval of dozens of amendments ranging from Iran sanctions to carbon emissions and immigration policies. […]
In addition to aiming to eliminate deficits within 10 years, both documents seek to ease the path for a repeal or replacement of President Barack Obama's signature health care reform law.
The lowlights of the budget mesh with what the House did: Turning Medicare into a voucher program; slashing Medicaid and food stamps, and turning them into block grant programs that will be far easier to dismantle at the state level; and providing big tax cuts for the rich. Along with Obamacare repeal, it would roll back the administration's carbon emissions rules for power plants. But war? They're ready for more of it, adding $38 billion to an off-budget war funding account.
Next month, after two weeks of recess, the two chambers will work out a combined, reconciled budget. That reconciliation process is what Mitch McConnell will use to repeal Obamacare, setting up a potential procedural fight (the Senate rule arbiter, the parliamentarian apparently says he can't do it) and a certain presidential veto.
7:47 AM PT: You can read the White House's reaction to the budget resolution here.