Senate OKs $1.5-Trillion Budget; Republicans Call for More Cuts

The Senate voted, 57 to 40, on Friday to approve the outlines of President Clinton’s budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

But the senators insisted on $26 billion more in deficit reduction over the next five years than either the President or the House has been willing to support.

Vice President Al Gore presided over the Senate in the final hour of debate. The vote went roughly along party lines, with Republican Sens. Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon and James M. Jeffords of Vermont siding with Democrats in approving the budget.

The additional spending cuts, which would likely fall most heavily on defense programs, withstood several challenges during a week of debate. However, the Administration has vowed to eliminate or significantly scale back the spending cuts when House and Senate conferees meet after the spring recess to resolve differences in their budget resolutions.

The budget resolution approved Friday provides for $1.5 trillion in spending during fiscal 1995, including about a third that would go for discretionary spending for domestic programs, defense and foreign aid. The remaining two-thirds of the budget would go for Social Security and other mandatory spending programs and interest on the federal debt.

Defense spending under the Senate plan would total $270.7 billion in 1995, or about $8 billion less than this year and about the same as Clinton and the House have proposed.