(Bloomberg) -- The Senate adopted a fiscal 2016budget that calls for $5.1 trillion in spending cuts to achievebalance in 10 years, while avoiding proposals to partiallyprivatize Medicare as many Republicans brace for re-election.

In the 52-46 vote Friday, Senate Republicans, who control thechamber for the first time in eight years, persuaded enough oftheir members to back a compromise fiscal blueprint to avoid theembarrassment of a failed vote.

Republicans, with a 54-46 Senate majority, could afford onlythree defections to adopt the budget. Presidential candidateSenator Ted Cruz, of Texas, and potential 2016 contender, SenatorRand Paul, of Kentucky cast the only Republican votesagainst the budget. That action came after the Senate voted in amarathon session on dozens of politically charged amendments thatare sure to become campaign fodder.

After passing a bill that would exempt grid-enabled waterheaters from pending Energy Department efficiency standards andpromote energy efficiency in commercial buildings, the Senateadjourned at 4:22 a.m. Friday and will reconvene on April 13. TheSenate did not take up House-passed legislation to ward off anApril 1 cut in Medicare physician payments.

Republicans have long criticized Democrats about the budget deficit, so failing to adopt a budgetwould have been a major blow to their new Republican majority.

“For years, the Democrat-led Senate refused to pass a balancedbudget,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor.“It usually failed to produce any budget at all. Maybe this madethe special interests happy, but it was infuriating for many in themiddle class.”

‘Best option’

The budget resolution won votes because it backed more defensespending than President Barack Obama has proposed. To appeaseadvocates of more defense spending, the plan places money in aspecial war-funding account that isn’t subject to spendinglimits.

“It’s the best option we currently have for leaving the nextpresident in a better position to face global challenges,” saidMcConnell of Kentucky.

Senate Republicans avoided a plan to partially privatizeMedicare that was embraced by the U.S. House of Representatives inits budget. The Senate plan instead calls for $430 billion inspending cuts without explaining where they would be made.

Some Senators worried that the House approach on Medicare,unpopular with voters, would damage them politically in 2016. Nextyear, Republicans must defend 24 Senate seats compared with 10 forDemocrats, a reversal from the past two elections whensignificantly more Senate Democrats were on the ballot.

The Medicare provisions will now be the subject of a House-Senate conference committee next month.

Presidential aspirations

Two senators likely to seek the 2016 Republican presidentialnomination, Paul and Marco Rubio, of Florida, sought even moredefense funding. Paul, who has made a name for himself bypressuring leaders to accept spending cuts, proposed an amendmentthat would have added almost $190 billion to defense spending overthe next two years, and covered the cost by making cuts in otherareas, including foreign aid and the Department of Education. Itfailed.

Rubio joined with Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton to propose aseparate amendment to increase defense spending. That proposaldidn’t specify any reductions. It also failed.

The plan, S.Con.Res. 11, includes $96 billion in war funding in2016, about $38 billion more than Obama has sought. Democratsdescribed the budget full of “gimmicks,” noting it would repeal thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act and eliminate healthcare for millions of people, while keeping the revenue generated byObama’s law. Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent whocaucuses with Democrats and sits on the Budget Committee, said thebudget would harm the middle class and poor.

“We’ll make it harder for kids to go to college, we’ll throwpeople off health insurance, but we will not ask the rich andpowerful to pay more in taxes,” Sanders said on the floor.

Joint budget

If the House and Senate can agree on a joint budget, that wouldallow use of a special procedure to let Republicans sendlegislation repealing Obamacare to the president’s desk.Obama would veto such a measure, though Republicans say that if theSupreme Court strikes down most of the law’s federal subsidies inthe next several months, Obama could be brought to the negotiatingtable to change the health care law.

The House budget plan adopted Wednesday in a 228-199 vote,H.Con.Res. 27 differs little from last year’s plan. It calls forcutting poverty programs to provide more funds for defense spendingwhile avoiding tax increases.

The final House vote came after Republicans resolved a disputeover defense funding. Lawmakers adopted an amendment to increasewar funds to $96 billion without offsetting any of that total withspending cuts elsewhere.

Raising caps

Agreeing on a budget plan won’t resolve the fight over raisingspending caps for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 because a budgetresolution isn’t a law signed by the president. To raise the capsas defense proponents want will require a deal later this year withObama and Democrats.

The limits were enacted as part of the 2011 Budget Control Act,intended to cut $1.2 trillion in spending through 2021. Congressvoted to ease the spending reductions for the past two fiscalyears, and the question is whether lawmakers will do the same for2016.

Many Republicans consider the 2011 law one of their mostsignificant achievements. Obama’s budget request offered a $38billion increase for national security programs over current budgetcaps in exchange for $37 billion more for domestic programs.

With assistance from Billy House in Washington.

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