Senate passes budget resolution

The Senate last night by a vote of 51-49 passed its fiscal 2018 budget resolution (S Con Res 25), which is designed to provide budget reconciliation protection for a tax code overhaul. The resolution would allow for $1.5 trillion in additional deficits over the coming decade to pay for tax cuts. By contrast, the House budget resolution (H Con Res 71) calls for a deficit-neutral tax-reform plan. The House-passed budget also would require at least $203 billion in cuts to entitlement programs over 10 years (such as cuts to Medicare and Medicaid among other programs). The Senate resolution does not require the entitlement cuts in order to proceed on tax reform. Neither resolution contains reconciliation instructions to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The House and Senate must now reconcile their resolutions; conversely, the House may elect to vote on the Senate resolution.