Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham on Friday released a budget blueprint that sets spending limits for a border, defense and energy bill to follow. 

The budget resolution, meant to serve as the opening salvo for enacting President Trump’s legislative agenda, calls for roughly $345 billion in new spending over four years, including $175 billion for border security and enforcement measures and $150 billion for defense.

If the budget blueprint is approved, the details of that spending, as well as offsets, would be drafted in a follow-up budget reconciliation bill. Reconciliation is a process that lets Republicans avoid the threat of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate and pass their priorities along party lines. 

“To those who voted for and support real border security and a stronger defense in a troubled world, help is on the way,” Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican, said in a statement. “This budget resolution jump-starts a process that will give President Trump’s team the money they need to secure the border and deport criminals, and make America strong and more energy independent.”

The Senate budget resolution is intended to set up the first of what senators prefer to be two budget reconciliation bills. The first would focus on immediate priorities of border, defense and energy security. The second would extend and expand the tax cuts enacted during Mr. Trump’s first term and cut spending across the federal government. 

House Republicans are proceeding with their own budget blueprint that would combine all those priorities into one massive bill, but they have struggled to get on the same page, so the Senate moved on its alternative plan. 

The House budget blueprint could be released next week, with GOP leaders eyeing a markup as soon as Tuesday. Mr. Graham has set a two-day markup of his budget resolution beginning Wednesday. 

The House and Senate eventually need to adopt the same budget resolution to unlock the reconciliation powers. 

One of the major disagreements that needs to be resolved beyond one bill or two is how far to go in cutting spending. 

Mr. Graham said his intention is for lawmakers to fully offset the new spending proposal with savings and revenue achieved over the same four years. But the instructions in the budget for Senate committees that would come up with those offsets sets a much more flexible floor of $5 billion in deficit reduction.

The budget resolution doesn’t specify where the spending should go or where the offsets should come from, but Mr. Graham outlined some of the likely categories. 

The $175 billion in border funding is intended to pay for finishing construction of the southern border wall, upgrading technology for ground and aerial support, and increasing detention beds for immigrants who cross the border illegally and aren’t released before adjudication.

It would also fund an increase in border agents, immigration judges and U.S. attorneys and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest and deport criminal migrants across the interior of the country. And some of the funding would go to state and local law enforcement to assist with immigration enforcement and removal efforts. 

The $150 billion in defense funding is intended to maintain military readiness, including building an integrated air and missile defense system similar to Israel’s Iron Dome. The money will also help strengthen America’s nuclear defense and expand the Navy to restore U.S. maritime dominance.  

Some of the budget savings are expected to come from energy provisions that facilitate on- and offshore lease sales to unleash domestic energy production. 

Republicans also plan to repeal the Biden administration’s methane emissions fee.

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.