For the first time in four years, Congress considers two different spending blueprints. But that crucial first step is a long way from a final agreement.

Budget disagreements between Democrats and Republicans in Congress have become routine with arguments over policy, quickly becoming arguments over politics.

Then, something changed.

The Democratically-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House reached agreement on a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded through this fiscal year; through the end of September. The resolution sent to President Barack Obama eases some of the pain of the $85 million in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts enacted when Congress last failed to agree on a spending plan, the so-called sequestration cuts. The agreement avoided a government shutdown.

“We did it by working together,” Congressman Lee Terry, a Republican, tells Nebraska Radio Network. “Boy, it really stunned the D.C. press, too. They were beside themselves that there was no controversy.”

Terry sees two reasons Congress reached agreement on the current spending plan. One, neither Republicans nor Democrats took extreme positions. Two, both the Senate and House reverted to normal budget procedures.

Could it signal a change in the continual, caustic budget battles?

Congressman Adrian Smith says that is a possibility.

“We want and need to do our job of having a good debate. We want to avoid that bickering that takes place. It’s not only unproductive, but it can be counter-productive,” Smith tells Nebraska Radio Network.

While the work to reach a compromise to keep the government running and lessen the pain of the sequestration broke through political stalemates, much room for partisan politics remains.

The budget blueprints for Fiscal Year 2014 differ greatly.

Republican leadership in the House proposes to balance the federal budget in 10 years through spending cuts totaling $4.6 trillion. It also would repeal President Obama’s landmark healthcare law and make changes to Medicare. It received no support from House Democrats.

Democrats in the Senate propose increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and on corporations by $975 billion over the next 10 years. It includes a $100 billion economic stimulus plan, paying for infrastructure improvements to create jobs throughout the country. It would reduce the annual $1 trillion federal budget deficit to $566 billion a year, tacking $5.2 trillion to the federal debt. It barely passed the Senate.

Sen. Mike Johanns, a Republican, sees little room for agreement between the two spending plans.

“I’ll be a bit surprised if they’re even conferenced, because they are so very different,” Johanns says in an interview with Nebraska Radio Network. “The House budget balances in 10 years. The Senate budget never balances. I mean, it never would achieve balance. In fact, it adds trillions and trillions to the debt.”

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:50]

A stop-gap measure will keep the federal government running this fiscal year. Now, talk turns to the next fiscal year.

Congress has approved a continuing resolution that funds the federal government through the end of September. By approving the measure, Congress avoids a government shutdown.

Sen. Mike Johanns, a Republican, says Democrats have unveiled a budget for Fiscal Year 2014, which begins October 1st. It proposes to raise approximately $1.5 trillion in taxes, yet fails to reach balance.

Still, Johanns sees it passing.

“I think they’ll pass it just because they can pass it on a majority vote and they have 55 members in the Senate and so, at the end of the day, they’ll break arms until they get it passed,” Johanns tells Drive Time Lincoln on Nebraska Radio Network affiliate KLIN.

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray of Washington stated the blueprint she will carry splits taxes and cuts evenly: $975 billion in spending, $975 billion in tax revenue raised by closing loopholes. The plan expands Medicaid to cover more low-income Americans.

Republicans, who control the House, outline a different approach.

The budget submitted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin cuts spending by $4.6 trillion over the next 10 years. It proposes cuts to both Medicare and Medicaid and the repeal of the federal healthcare overhaul. It purports to balance the federal budget in 10 years.

Johanns says he would vote for the Ryan plan.

Johanns has been critical of President Obama for not engaging directly with members of Congress on fiscal matters. That has changed. Johanns was among Republican senators who recently had dinner with Obama to discuss the budget. Obama has visited with House Republicans. Johanns sees that as positive.

“We got to do the right things to get this spending under control, but there have been a few positive steps and I’m guessing he’s feeling the pressure,” says Johanns.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:35]

President Obama reaches out to Republicans senators to talk fiscal policy; among those in attendance was Sen. Mike Johanns.

Johanns was among 12 Republican Senators who had dinner in Washington with President Obama.

“I thought we had a good conversation. I thought it was very cordial, very respectful,”Johanns tells Nebraska reporters during his weekly conference call. “But, obviously we can’t stop with a good candid, cordial conversation.”

Obama has been reaching out to Republicans, discussing alternatives to the sequestration, the automatic across-the-board budget cuts that took effect Friday. This year, sequestration will cut $85 billion from the federal budget. It will cut more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years unless Congress and the president agree to a different plan to reduce the federal deficit.

The White House announced that Obama had a private dinner with the 12 Republican senators at a downtown Washington hotel.

The office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also announced that Obama plans to attend a Senate Republican luncheon on March the 14th. The office of House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said that Obama has also requested a meeting with House Republicans.

The president is also arranging a time to meet with members of his own party in both the Senate and the House.

A spokesman for the president said he has been calling Republican lawmakers about an alternative to the sequester as well as about other aspects of his agenda, such as immigration reform and gun control.

Johanns, along with other Republicans, wants spending cuts. He says Washington has enough studies on how to deal with the deficit; studies aren’t needed, action is.

“You know, I think all the ideas are fleshed out there. I just think now it’s a question of the political choices that have to be made.”

Johanns says spending must be reduced and entitlements put on sound fiscal footing.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:40]

A current Nebraska United States Senator says a former Nebraska United States Senator might well be a lightning rod for controversy, but he will stick with him.

Sen. Mike Johanns says he probably knows former Sen. Chuck Hagel better than anyone in Washington and after studying his record and meeting with him personally, Johanns is firm in his decision to vote for Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense.

Johanns says he understands few are lukewarm about long-time friend.

“So, the people who really like Chuck Hagel are not calling me aren’t calling me at this point,” Johanns tells Kevin Thomas, host of Drive Time Lincoln on Nebraska Radio Network affiliate KLIN. “The people who really dislike Chuck Hagel are calling.”

The relationship between Johanns and Hagel stretches back for years. Johanns succeeded Hagel in the United States Senate. Both Republicans, the two campaigned together in Nebraska.

Still, even Johanns had to pause and consider the record before he committed to voting to confirm Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense. A perception that Hagel is not a strong ally of Israel worries Johanns. Johanns says the two have other differences as well, but Hagel’s positives outweigh the negatives.

Johanns calls Hagel a provocative guy, who has alienated some in the United States Senate.

Efforts to confirm Hagel were scrapped before the Senate left for a week-long break.

Johanns expects Hagel to win confirmation by the full Senate when the vote is expected to come back to the floor tomorrow.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:40]