US Senate passes $4tn budget blueprint

Washington, Oct 20 (IANS) The US Senate has approved a multi-trillion dollar budget that President Donald Trump has called a "first step towards massive tax cuts".

The Senate on Thursday voted 51-49 to pass the budget resolution, a blueprint of trillions of dollars in federal spending over the next decade.

It is being seen as a largely symbolic move that sets the stage for Republicans to rewrite the American tax code without a single Democratic vote, the Guardian reported.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican to oppose the blueprint, objecting to the spending levels provided in the proposal.

Passage of the resolution keeps Republicans on track to pass tax reform as early as this year, though many hurdles remain.

They are still in the process of drafting their tax plan and they have not accounted for where the cuts will come from.

Despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, Republicans have so far been unable to produce a major legislative achievement.

After repeatedly failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017, GOP lawmakers are under mounting pressure from conservative voters and donors to deliver on tax reform, a major campaign promise.