Senate Democrats looking to trim tax extenders bill

The $140 billion tax extenders bill will probably be trimmed back in an effort to garner enough support to pass the measure, according to Democratic aides. 

To appease concerns about $84 billion in deficit spending, Senate Democrats could trim the so-called Medicare "doc fix" back to a year, according to a Democratic aide. The House passed a 19-month fix after trimming it back from three years before passing the bill before the Memorial Day recess.

Senate Democrats were coming up short on votes to end debate on the bill Tuesday afternoon with a Wednesday vote looming. Democrats will likely hold a cloture vote to end debate, and then suggest changes if it fails, an aide said. Cloture could be filed again on the measure if the vote fails. 

The Senate also could eliminate the additional $25 each week included in unemployment benefits checks that was passed as part of the economic stimulus in February 2009. That cut alone could reportedly save billions. Extended benefits for the long-term jobless expired earlier this month, and the Senate has been unable to reach an agreement on how to move forward on the legislation.

Meanwhile, the Senate is likely to retain $24 billion in unpaid-for spending for federal medical assistance percentages (FMAP) that determine how much states receive in federal matching Medicaid funds. 

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said any amount of deficit spending on the bill leaves him "unsatisfied" and he would prefer that the bill contain "zero" spending that isn't offset. But, so far, Democrats don't have any additional ideas besides what's already included in the bill on how to pay for measure. 

Unspent stimulus funds are circulating as one possibility, but Nelson said it would depend on what programs would be affected. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) earlier Tuesday suggested using the unobligated balance of stimulus funds, but those are down to around $50 billion of the initial $787 billion and are running out quickly.