Senate, Budget | featured news

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday became the first prominent Republican to publicly praise, however lukewarmly, the budget proposal the White House outlined last week. Graham said that while he believes President Barack Obama's plan is overall bad for the economy, "there are nuggets of his budget that I think are optimistic," and that could set the stage for a broad bargain to put the nation's finances on a stronger footing. He was speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

States are looking to the federal government for more help balancing their budgets, but the Senate is not heeding their call.

California's Senate approved a package of bills early on Friday morning that would balance the state budget by closing a $26.3 billion shortfall threatening the finances of the government of the most populous U.S. state.

The Senate's top Democratic on budget issues is scrapping Barack Obama's signature tax $400 tax credit for most workers as he seeks to cut the deficit to sustainable levels.