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House and Senate Republicans release their 2016 budgets this week, mapping out a conservative blueprint for shrinking federal spending and challenging the vision laid out by President Barack Obama in his budget last month. ... If House and Senate Republicans can agree on a budget, they would be able to tap into a procedural shortcut known as reconciliation, which would enable the GOP to bypass Senate Democrats on related legislation, likely including changes to the Affordable Care Act. Should internal GOP fissures derail passage of the budget resolution, the party’s best chance at sending its most conservative bills to Mr. Obama’s desk this year is gone. (Peterson and Timiraos, 3/15)

Republicans now in charge of Congress offer their budget blueprint this week with the pledge to balance the nation's budget within a decade and rein in major programs such as food stamps and Medicare. More pressing for many Republicans, however, is easing automatic budget cuts set to slam the military. (3/16)

The idea is to pass a budget this month that sticks to the spending caps, but then negotiate a budget law this summer that ends sequestration. The $540 billion in cuts still to come under the Budget Control Act would be replaced by savings from entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security as well as new revenue from closing some tax loopholes.(Weisman, 3/15)

In the House, Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana are stuck between the budget-cutting demands of conservatives and the desire of defense hawks to provide the military with more robust funding. In the Senate, Republicans are already getting hit by Democrats after indicating they’ll target Medicaid and food stamps. (Kim and Sherman, 3/15)

First up is a nonbinding measure called a budget resolution. It sets out, in broad strokes, goals for spending, tax revenues and changes to crucial programs like Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and student loans as well as the health care law. Lawmakers in the House and Senate vote on the resolution, but it stays in Congress, never reaching the president's desk. Instead, it requires follow-up legislation to implement any changes proposed by the resolution, and that's often a major challenge. (3/16)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told leading GOP policy analysts this week that he will make overhauling Medicare, Social Security and other long-term entitlement programs a centerpiece of his likely presidential campaign, according to participants in the talks. Christie’s decision to embrace a politically risky campaign theme is central to an attempt to revive his wilting national prospects, according to people familiar with his plans. (Costa, 3/13)