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Divided Senate passes budget blueprintRepublicans split over $2.8 trillion spending measureFrom Ted Barrett WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate on Thursday narrowly passed a $2.8 trillion budget blueprint for 2007 after disputes between moderate and conservative Republicans over spending nearly scuttled its passage. The 51-49 vote came after Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu decided to vote for the bill in exchange for GOP promises of billions in funding for levees and wetlands restoration in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast region. Vice President Dick Cheney was on Capitol Hill to break a tie vote if needed. But congressional aides predict the budget resolution will hit a roadblock in the House of Representatives, where conservatives have vowed to cut spending considerably. The Senate made big changes to the original budget proposed by President Bush for the fiscal year that begins October 1. Among them, the Senate dropped plans to curb Medicare spending and canceled plans to extend certain tax cuts. The Senate also added funding for a host of programs, including $7 billion for health and education programs championed by Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican. But conservative Republicans balked at supporting the budget when the price tag crashed through the $873 billion cap in discretionary spending proposed by the White House. To pick up votes, GOP leaders were forced to negotiate with moderate Democrats like Landrieu and Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Nelson voted against the measure. Because the budget resolution is nonbinding, Congress can still pass its spending bills without it. But getting both chambers to agree on a blueprint makes the process easier. Also, not passing one is seen by many as embarrassing for the Republicans, who control both the House and Senate. The Senate resolution authorizes oil drilling in part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, but that provision won't go into effect unless a final budget compromise is reached with the House. The Senate vote came on the same day the House gave final approval to a nearly $92 billion supplemental spending bill for hurricane relief and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Full story) Democrats complained that that money, while necessary, is not accounted for in the budget blueprint and that it should be. Also Thursday, the Senate voted to raise the national debt ceiling to nearly $9 trillion from $8.2 trillion. That vote drew criticism from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. "When it comes to deficits, this president owns all the records. The three largest deficits in our nation's history have all occurred under this administration's watch," the Nevada Democrat told the Senate, according to prepared remarks on his Web site. 
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