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The Senate gave final approval Tuesday to the first joint congressional budget plan in six years, ratifying a 10-year blueprint that would cut spending by $5.3 trillion, overhaul programs for the poor, repeal President Obama’s health care law and ostensibly produce a balanced budget in less than a decade. (Weisman, 5/5)

The budget’s passage also unlocks an important procedural tool known as reconciliation, which allows legislation to pass both chambers with a simple majority vote. ... Republican lawmakers say they hope to use that tool to repeal parts of Mr. Obama’s health-care law. Congress could use reconciliation, for example, to respond to any fallout from a challenge before the Supreme Court over how the law was established. The court’s ruling, expected next month, could upend the health-care law if the justices side with the plaintiffs. Mr. Obama is almost certain to veto any such measure by Congress. (Timiraos, 5/5)

The ten-year plan achieves balance with steep cuts in domestic spending while protecting defense spending and raising no new taxes. ... Democrats said the Republican budget would give tax breaks to the wealthy while stripping millions of Americans of health insurance, cutting federal tuition grants for college students, and slashing Medicaid and food stamp programs for the poor. (Davis and Kelly, 5/5)

Senate Republicans celebrated on Tuesday after passing the first joint budget resolution in more than five years, but that success is just the start of the much more difficult task of funding the government. ... Democrats vowed to block deep funding cuts for medical research, food stamps, housing programs for low-income workers and the federal Pell Grant program for students. (Snell, 5/5)

Still, passing a budget lays out Republican priorities: cutting Medicare and Medicaid, repealing Obamacare and funding the country at levels backed by top military leaders. (Bade, 5/5)

Republicans and many economists say balancing the budget helps the economy in the long run and say it’s better to tackle the long-term financial problems of programs like Medicare and Medicaid sooner rather than later. They also promise to relieve the burden of debt that’s being passed on to future generations. (Taylor, 5/5)

The budget resolution, S.Con.Res. 11, spells out the Republican Party’s priorities by calling for $5.3 trillion in spending cuts to reach balance in nine years. Most of the reductions, $4.1 trillion, would come from programs including entitlements like Medicare. (Przybyla, 5/5)

The first combined House-Senate budget in six years passed 51-48 with all Senate Democrats and two Republicans voting against it, presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Senator David Vitter, a Republican who is running for Louisiana governor this year, did not cast a vote. The non-binding resolution does not go to Obama's desk to be signed into law. Instead, it helps guide Congress' consideration of government agency spending bills and serves as a Republican fiscal policy manifesto that will influence 2016 election campaigns. (Lawder, 5/5)