U.S. Senate narrowly passes first budget in four years

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Saturday narrowly passed its first federal budget in four years, a move that will usher in a relative lull in Washington's fiscal wars until an anticipated summer showdown over raising the debt ceiling.

The Senate budget plan passed on a 50-49 vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. Four Democratic senators facing re-election in 2014 joined all Senate Republicans in opposing the measure, which seeks to raise nearly $1 trillion in new tax revenues by closing some tax breaks for the wealthy.