Senate Republicans and Democrats began the budget debate yesterday and the impact of the impending war stood front and center. At issue were whether the cost of the war should be factored in the discussion. Democrats, including Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) called for cutting the size of President Bush's 11-year, $726 billion economic growth package, in part to accomodate the potential cost of the war.

Senator Michael Enzi (R-Wyoming) felt the war should be treated as "a one-time emergency" and not part of the baseline budget.

Senate Republicans are aiming to complete debate on their version of the budget resolution and vote on some amendments this week. They also expect that a final vote will have to wait until the week of March 24.

The House will begin debating its draft budget resolution March 20, but the schedule is likely to change if the war commences.

If war breaks out, the Administration is expected to send up a supplemental spending request to the Hill. While there are no precise figures of how large the supplemental will be, there are estimates that it will be as large as $100 million.