Congressional Democrats slam Republican budget plan

Congressional Democrats said Wednesday there’s no room for compromise on the GOP’s current budget framework, saying the 2018 fiscal blueprint appears geared toward rewarding the wealthy while piling up government debt.

With budget votes scheduled on the House floor and in a Senate committee on Thursday, Republicans are looking to shore up their own troops, saying their plan is a responsible attempt to pare back government spending while balancing competing needs.

Democrats said they won’t support the budget or the tax reform plan that will follow from it.

“Amazingly, it’s just like the inverse of the Republican plan on health care: In each case they gut health care for Americans who need it the most to pay for tax cuts for Americans who need it the least,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.

Democrats said the Republican budget aims to cut some $1.5 trillion from Medicare and Medicaid, and accused the GOP of a “starve the beast” strategy, passing massive tax cuts that leave the government gasping for cash and forcing more cuts in the future.

“It is the Robin Hood principle in reverse. It takes from those in need and gives to those who are already living in incredible opulence,” said Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who serves as Democrats’ ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee.

The Senate budget plan clears the way for a tax cut package that could increase the deficit by up to $1.5 trillion, while the House version envisions a tax plan that is “revenue neutral.”

Budget proposals are typically a starting point for negotiations, and the spending levels outlined in the House and Senate plans stand virtually no chance of actually becoming law.

But the 2018 budget process does have particular significance in that Republicans need to pass a resolution in order to unlock a fast-track procedure, known as reconciliation, that will allow them to bypass a possible filibuster of their planned tax overhaul in the Senate.

“While the Senate budget is first and foremost about reforming the tax code, it is also a serious fiscal plan,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, Wyoming Republican.

Mr. Enzi’s committee aims to pass its plan this week and send it to the Senate floor. The House, meanwhile, is expected to pass its own framework on the chamber floor Thursday after months of haggling over proposed spending levels and the scope of the GOP’s tax framework.

The Senate’s fiscal blueprint projects that the budget will balance in 10 years via a combination of economic growth and spending cuts of $5.1 trillion.

For 2018 specifically, it includes $549 billion for defense spending, as well as an additional $77 billion for the military’s overseas contingency operations (OCO) fund. It includes $516 billion for non-defense spending in 2018, as well as an additional $7 billion for disaster relief.

Those 2018 spending levels in the Senate’s budget are in line with projected mandatory caps for defense and non-defense spending under the 2011 Budget Control Act, but the document provides leeway for increased defense spending if the caps are raised, which lawmakers have done multiple times in the past.

The House’s budget plan, meanwhile, calls for some $6.5 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years to achieve balance.

But the House would allow $621.5 billion for defense spending in 2018, busting the caps set by the 2011 law. The House plan also sets non-defense spending at $511 billion for 2018 — much lower than what Democrats want.

Raising the caps requires 60 votes in the Senate, and Democrats have said they’ll demand an increase in the non-defense cap to boost spending on social programs if defense hawks dig in on their own higher levels.

Some House Democrats said Wednesday they’re still holding out hope for real bipartisanship on tax reform if Republicans can craft a package that doesn’t add to federal deficits and if revenues can be used to replenish the depleted federal highway trust fund.

“We’re not interested in being props,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, Texas Democrat and a member of the moderate “Blue Dog” caucus. “Seeking partisan solutions to complex problems is something that doesn’t work.”