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House passes tax-cuts bill
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives passed a budget Friday that will allow up to $550 billion in new tax cuts over the next 10 years. The House voted 216 to 211 after weeks of heated debate. Senate action is expected Friday, but several senators are still reviewing the deal. The unorthodox agreement -- which essentially sticks a place holder in the budget resolution for up to $550 billion in tax cuts but delays, until later this year, the tough negotiations over their exact size -- was reached after moderate Republicans in the Senate bucked their leadership and insisted on a tax cut smaller than the $726 billion President Bush had requested. In fact, the agreement allows the moderate senators to vote for a tax cut no larger than $350 billion -- the number they wanted -- when the tax cut comes to the floor in the coming months. House conservatives, who had insisted the final number be close to Bush's original request, were "disappointed" by the agreement, according to Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, chairman of the House Budget Committee. But Nussle said conservatives knew they would have to compromise with the closely divided Senate. He said he expects broad support for the deal by the Republicans who control the House chamber. Senate Democrats are expected to oppose the bill. In the last few days, congressional negotiators struggled to reach the deal. A previous agreement, an even more unusual plan, would have had the House and Senate pass tax cuts of different sizes. But it was scuttled after the Senate parliamentarian ruled it out of order. The new plan doesn't face the same parliamentary hurdles. By having a place holder for up to $550 billion in tax cuts, the Senate can pass a cut of that size with only 51 of 100 votes, not the 60 votes that would have been needed if it weren't in the budget. Most Democrats oppose the larger tax cuts, so Republican leaders would have struggled to get 60 votes. The $2.2 trillion budget resolution sets the parameters for tax cuts and spending for next year. It includes discretionary spending levels at about the same level Bush requested. It also approves up to $400 billion for a prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients and other Medicare reforms. -- CNN Capitol Hill Producers Ted Barrett and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
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