Senator Lindsey Graham on Friday unveiled a budget plan that would increase spending for the military and border security measures, in a move aimed at expediting President Trump’s agenda as House Republicans remained divided over their own massive fiscal package.
Mr. Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the chairman of the Budget Committee, has long argued that congressional Republicans should pass Mr. Trump’s domestic agenda in two bills: one that could be quickly passed to take early action on border security and defense and another measure extending the 2017 tax cuts.
That approach has been largely rejected in the House, with top Republicans arguing that their razor-thin majority has left them with the political capital to pass only one bill. House G.O.P. leaders have been laboring in recent weeks to put together a huge legislative package cutting taxes, slashing spending and slowing immigration that can win the support of the entire conference.
But with House Republicans divided over key issues, Mr. Graham announced that Senate Republicans, who will dine with Mr. Trump on Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, would not wait for their colleagues across the Capitol to get their act together.
“It’s time for the Senate to move,” he told reporters.
The resolution Mr. Graham released on Friday would increase military spending by $150 billion. Spending on border security measures, including additional detention beds and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, would increase by $175 billion.
The blueprint, which does not have the force of law but is a critical step to enable Republicans to push through their fiscal package with only a simple majority vote, does not lay out any specific spending cuts but instructs a slew of other committees to find ways to offset the new costs.
House Republicans huddled repeatedly this week to try to find a path forward on their own resolution. They also met with Mr. Trump at the White House on Thursday for what turned out to be a marathon four-hour session.
The heart of the dispute has centered around the ultimate cost of the legislation. Conservative hard-liners have pressed for deep spending cuts to offset the cost of extending the 2017 tax cuts and some of Mr. Trump’s proposals, such as eliminating tax on tips, while more mainstream Republicans have balked at razing certain federal programs their constituents rely on. House conservatives are pushing for spending cuts from $1 trillion to $2 trillion, according to people familiar with the discussions.
“You have to stay tuned on the numbers,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Friday. “That’s what we’re negotiating right now.”
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