IN BLOW TO BUSH, SENATORS REJECT CUTS TO MEDICAID.

Reports that President George W. Bush's plans to reduce the explosive growth of Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, ran into a roadblock when the U.S. Senate voted to strip its 2006 budget of all proposed Medicaid cuts. Possibility that the move will prevent Congress from adopting a budget this year; Agreement by a vote of 52 to 48 to strike language calling for $14 billion in Medicaid spending cuts over the next five years; Decision to create a commission to study the program and recommend changes, reporting back in one year; Vote of 218 to 214 in the House to approve its own $2.57 trillion budget resolution that included $69 billion in cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicaid; Reference to a collision course between the House and the Senate; Suggestion that the Medicaid vote is a setback to Mr. Bush's domestic agenda.