The U.S. Senate on Thursday began a debate on a Republican bill to advance President Donald Trump's priorities on immigration, energy and defense, even after he urged them to scrap that effort in favor of a House bill that would also include trillions of dollars in tax cuts.

President Donald Trump backed a House budget plan calling for a $4.5 trillion tax cut, slapping back Senate Republicans’ efforts to rush through funds to help bolster his immigration crackdown in favor of a larger bill that will likely take months to negotiate.

President Donald Trump’s endorsement of the House budget resolution as his preferred path to pass an extension of his 2017 tax cuts, border security funding and other parts of his agenda would likely require deep cuts to Medicaid,