WASHINGTON. D.C. – Alabama’s U.S. senators are pushing for Congress to move quickly to pass a budget that will implement President Donald Trump’s priorities of cutting taxes and boosting border and military spending after the House and Senate adopted different budget resolutions.
Republican lawmakers are starting the long process of making their visions of tax and spending cuts a reality as the two chambers work to reconcile their differences on a budget plan. The House passed its plan Tuesday night, while the Senate passed its resolution last week.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said she was proud to support the Senate budget plan because it tackled priorities she and Trump want to make happen.
“I … want to achieve results for the American people on things like the border, on things like defense, (and) on things like energy independence,” Britt told Alabama Daily News.
The Senate resolution calls for a $150 billion increase in defense spending and a $175 billion increase for border security over the next decade. The House plan also calls for spending increases for the military and the border, but it also includes $2 trillion in mandatory spending cuts and $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. Senate Republicans want a plan that makes tax cuts permanent.
House Democrats are concerned the budget resolution will lead to cuts to social programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program while giving tax cuts to the wealthy. Trump said Wednesday “we’re not going to touch” Medicaid but the House plan calls for the committee that oversees Medicaid spending to cut $880 billion.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said there won’t be cuts to those programs, but he said adding work requirements will probably be needed to meet the spending goals.
“There is going to be different regulations put in to where we can make people go back to work if they can work,” Tuberville told reporters.
Britt said she hasn’t had a chance yet to look closely at the House resolution. She said “time is of the essence” when moving a budget resolution forward. Britt didn’t address the Medicaid concerns but said if Congress ends up moving forward with the House budget plan she expects the final product to look different.
“Moving forward there will certainly have to be changes or amendments made here on the Senate side, so it’s unclear which direction we will go,” Britt told ADN.
Tuberville echoed the uncertainty of what’s next for the two chambers as they work out the details.
“At the end of the day, we don’t know what it’s going to be like yet here in the Senate,” Tuberville said.
The senator said he favors the one bill approach, the Senate plan is split in two, so Congress can get the budget enacted quickly.
More than 100 Alabama groups co-signed a letter this week to the state’s Congressional delegation asking them to oppose cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. The letter highlighted how Medicaid benefits Alabamians, including it being the “leading source of health insurance in rural communities.” Some of the groups who signed on include Feeding Alabama, Alabama Arise and United Way of West Alabama.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the timing for when the Senate acts on the House budget plan is “to be determined”, The Associated Press reported.