Washington ? Republicans pushed a $2.57 trillion budget through the House Budget Committee on Wednesday, answering record federal deficits by seeking broad cuts in domestic programs and carving deeper into benefits for the poor and students than President Bush proposed.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., released a similar $2.56 trillion outline that his panel was likely to approve today.

Like the budget Bush sent lawmakers last month, both congressional plans rely chiefly on reduced domestic spending and assumptions of economic growth to curb deficits, while seeking additional tax cuts and beefed up defense and anti-terrorism expenditures.

The Senate plan would pare benefits by $32 billion over the next five years from programs including Medicaid, farm assistance and subsidy cuts to lenders of student loans.

Reflecting the House’s more conservative tenor, its budget seeks $69 billion in such savings, cutting almost $20 billion deeper than the president suggested. That will set the stage for months of partisan battling likely to echo in next year’s midterm congressional elections.

“Personally, I — and I know many of my colleagues — would like to have gone even further” in restraining spending, said House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, before his panel approved the budget by a party-line 22-15. “But it’s a good step in the right direction.”

Gregg said his plan was “not a radical proposal.” Its $14 billion in five-year Medicaid savings would be about 1 percent of the $1.12 trillion the program is projected to spend over that period.

Democrats said the GOP plans would harm people who rely on federal programs and mask how bad deficits will be by omitting much of the future costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a long-term easing of the alternative minimum tax, and Bush’s plan to revamp Social Security.

Congress’ budget sets overall spending and tax targets while leaving specific revenue and expenditure changes for later bills. It does not need the president’s signature.

Final congressional approval of the budget may prove dicey, despite Republican control of both chambers. GOP moderates are eager to limit new cuts in taxes and domestic programs, while conservatives want the deepest possible tax reductions and strict spending restraints.