House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi heads to a caucus meetng on Capitol Hill. Source: AFP

The 219-206 vote followed a bruising day of arm-twisting by the White House after dozens of Democrats revolted over pro-Wall Street and campaign-­finance riders in the bill, dramatically splitting with President Barack Obama over the legislation that funds most federal operations through to September.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said immediately after the vote his chamber would take up the legislation today. The two chambers will therefore need to pass a short-term extension to keep government open.

The package will fund most federal operations until September 30, the end of the 2015 fiscal year.

The deal almost did not happen, forcing the White House and Mr Obama, who came out in favour of the measure, into near-panic mode as they scrambled to get enough Democrats on board.

Speaker John Boehner said earlier he would have the votes, but he was forced to suspend ­proceedings when he realised he was short, fuelling a Capitol Hill showdown.

Progressive Democrats were furious over a clause buried deep in the 1603-page bill that rolls back key regulations on Wall Street.

Top house Democrat Nancy Pelosi joined the revolt.

In a rebuke of Mr Obama on the floor, she blasted as “blackmail” the effort to shred reforms in the so-called Dodd-Frank law that prevents big banks from making risky derivatives trades protected by taxpayer-insured funds.

Ms Pelosi and others argued that the change opens the door to another big bank bailout that rescued foundering financial institutions during the worst of the “Great Recession”, or global fin­ancial crisis. That, Democrats fear, could lead to a repeat of conditions that fuelled the financial ­crisis of 2007-08.

Democrats are also angered by a rider that would dramatically ­expand the amount that wealthy individuals can contribute to ­national political parties — a move that would undercut campaign finance reforms from 2002.

Senior house Democrat Steve Israel warned that the two provisions were poison pills “that Democrats can’t swallow”, and said he hoped Mr Boehner would strip them out and start anew.

Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters was furious about the provisions, and suggested she was unimpressed by the White House dispatching chief of staff Denis McDonough up to the US Capitol to meet with distressed Democrats about the bill.

“We don’t like lobbying that is being done by the President or anybody else that allows us to ... give a big gift to Wall Street,” ­Waters boomed to reporters. We’re going to fight it. We’re fighting anybody who is lobbying to tell people to vote for this bill.”

Asked if Mr McDonough swayed Democrats to vote for the measure, congressman Bill Pascrell sneered “absolutely not”, yet 57 Democrats joined most Republicans to support the measure.

Conservative Republicans are angry that the bill takes no direct steps to block Mr Obama’s executive action on immigration, ­announced last month, that would shield millions from deportation.

As a compromise, the measure provides only two months of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, allowing congress — which returns to full Republican control next year — an opportunity to revisit funding for the agency that will handle Mr Obama’s immigration action.

Such mega-laws are greased by backroom negotiating and often introduced at the last minute.

To expedite the process, congress votes not on each amendment, but on the final text. The take-it-or-leave-it approach is a double-edged sword: approval can be swift, but rejection can trigger a government shutdown.

AFP