Debate over the Trump agenda also involves another hot-button fiscal issue: the debt ceiling.
Senate Republicans who favor deeper spending cuts hope to use the congressionally mandated borrowing limit on the nation's $36.6 trillion of debt as leverage to get their way.
Having avoided a weekend government shutdown, Congress faces a high-stakes mid-year deadline for passing Trump's agenda, given that House Republicans included a $4 trillion debt ceiling increase in their budget blueprint. If lawmakers fail to raise the ceiling before the Treasury exhausts its ability to pay its bills, the country will face a catastrophic default.
Senate Finance Committee Republicans, who discussed spending cuts with Trump at the White House last week, said the president wants the debt limit to remain part of the legislation.