Senate Panel Clears $3.6 Trillion Budget

Senate Panel Clears $3.6 Trillion Budget; Wall Street Journal

President Barack Obama's fiscal agenda gained steam, as the Senate Budget Committee Thursday embraced a $3.6 trillion budget that Republicans complained would pile up a huge federal debt.

Under the Senate budget, which cleared the committee on a 13 to 10 vote, debt held by the public would grow to $11.5 trillion in 2014 from $8.8 trillion in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The widening deficit reflects the weak economy, which is pushing down federal revenue, continued spending on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and efforts to spur job growth, among other things.