Senate Approves Cuts, but Not Drilling

But House Republicans lamented Democratic tactics that will keep the measure from being enacted immediately. The House had narrowly passed the bill, 212 to 206, in a predawn vote on Monday, and now, with a new vote in the House coming, opponents of the budget bill -- from organized labor to the powerful seniors lobby AARP -- began gearing up for another fight.

"Today, Senate Democrats derailed the first meaningful entitlement spending reform in almost a decade," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), who helped lead the fight for the budget cuts.

Opening the Alaskan refuge to drilling has been a centerpiece of Bush's energy agenda since he took office. But it apparently reached another dead end yesterday when the Senate voted 56 to 44 to cut off debate on the defense bill. Two moderate Republicans, Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.) and Mike DeWine (Ohio), joined 40 Democrats and independent James M. Jeffords (Vt.) in opposition. The bill's supporters were three votes short of the 60 needed to break the filibuster, since Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a drilling proponent, switched his vote to oppose the measure for procedural reasons.

On the budget, the Democrats relied on arcane Senate rules, named after their creator, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), to assert that four tiny provisions must be struck because they made substantive policy changes without affecting federal revenue. The Senate parliamentarian ruled against the Democrats in their effort to strike one provision, designed to block foster-care assistance for grandparents caring for family members.

The parliamentarian upheld three other objections -- two requiring reports on Medicare changes and one that would have shielded hospitals and doctors from lawsuits filed by Medicaid patients. The Senate voted 52 to 48 to overturn the parliamentary ruling, well short of the 60 votes needed. Three Republicans -- Chafee, Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine) -- joined all 44 Democrats and Jeffords to uphold the ruling.

On the final vote, Republicans Chafee, Susan Collins (Maine) , DeWine, Smith and Snowe sided with Democrats against the budget.

Frist lashed out at what he called the Democrats' "childish antics." House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) sent a letter to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), asking that the House pass the new version of the budget by unanimous consent, ending the need to summon lawmakers back to Washington.

But even before the request, Pelosi had promised to force another vote.

"Democrats believe this Republican bill has the wrong priorities," she said in a statement. "That is why we will request a recorded vote where all members return to Washington to make clear their values to the American people."

A coalition of labor unions and liberal interest groups immediately swung back into gear, drafting a list of 18 House Republicans in hopes of persuading eight to change their vote.

"Make no mistake -- we're going to keep on fighting until we permanently derail these reckless budget and tax cuts," said Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that has largely bankrolled the fight against the budget measure.