US Senate approves budget bill

By Gulbin Yildirim

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. Senate passed a $4 trillion budget plan for the 2018 fiscal year, late on Thursday.

Approval of the bill is viewed as being crucial to realizing proposed tax cuts championed by President Donald Trump.

The budget passed by 51 to 49 votes in the Senate after lawmakers from Trump’s Republican Party mended internal differences.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against the bill, claiming it was too expensive.

The budget should pass into law after related commissions from the House of Representatives and Senate compound two approved budget bills.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are now facing calls to enact the Senate plan, rather than delay it with further debate or negotiations.

The House of Representatives also approved a similar $4.1 trillion budget in early October.