WASHINGTON (AP) - As Congress wrapped up its work on a federal budget plan, Sen. George Voinovich said Friday that he never once felt uncomfortable about breaking with his party and President Bush over the size of tax cuts to approve.

The Ohio Republican and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, refused to support tax cuts of more than $350 billion even though GOP leaders had wanted a larger tax reduction and President Bush had lobbied hard for his entire tax cut package of $726 billion.

This week, Congress approved the blueprint for the $2.27 trillion federal budget allowing for a tax cut of $550 billion. But the Senate approved the bill only after Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, promised Voinovich and Snowe that the tax cut would not exceed $350 billion.

Still, Voinovich, who met with the president last week and has been in discussions with the White House since then, said Friday that he would not back down and expects the final tax cut to be no more than $350 billion.

Reflecting over the past two weeks, Voinovich said his discussions with White House officials and Senate GOP leaders had been professional but strained.

''I didn't feel uncomfortable about anything,'' he said. ''They were doing what I would have done if I was the governor of Ohio and I was doing what I could to convince a member of my party to support a particular issue.''

Voinovich, who served as Ohio's governor from 1990 to 1998, declined to say what he and the president had talked about at their meeting. He said only that the two had reminisced about the responsibilities Bush has as president compared to what Voinovich had as Ohio's governor.

''One of the things that really makes me feel good is that they may not agree with me, but they still continue to respect me,'' he said, adding that he's a chief sponsor of the president's air pollution proposal, which is referred to as ''Clean Skies.''

Still, Voinovich admitted that there has been no shortage of comments from his colleagues and Ohioans regarding his tax cut stance. He received about 250 calls in support of his stand on Wednesday compared to nine against, his office said.

Also, on a recent airplane trip, Ohio Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, shouted out ''There's my good friend, a Daschle-Republican,'' Voinovich said, referring to the Democratic Leader in the Senate, Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

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On the Net: http://voinovich.senate.gov