Senate Republicans Split Over Budget Cuts

It’s not just Republicans in the House who have differing views over how much to cut government spending. The same division is present in the Senate as it considers a House GOP plan to trim spending by $61 billion, The Hill reports.

Conservatives and even some moderates in the Senate want the cuts, which apply to the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, to go beyond the House proposal.

But moderates who are up for re-election next year feel differently. They don’t want to risk alienating voters by slashing government aid for heating homes and for providing food for children, for example.

So Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has a difficult assignment in keeping his charges united. But he said, “We’re committed to trying to achieve the same amount of reductions in this fiscal year that hopefully the House will be able to pass later this week.”