WASHINGTON- The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval on Friday to a one-week stopgap spending bill for the domestic security agency, averting a partial shutdown with just hours to spare before a midnight deadline.
After a chaotic day that featured an embarrassing rebuke to Republican House Speaker John Boehner from angry conservatives, the House voted 357-60 to keep the lights on at the Department of Homeland Security for at least one more week.
The Senate had already passed the one-week extension a few hours earlier. President Barack Obama was expected to quickly sign it.
The dizzying twists and turns in the days-long political battle raised fresh questions about Boehner's ability to manage his caucus of restive conservatives and the prospects for legislative achievement in the new, Republican-run Congress.
Earlier on Friday, the House rejected a three-week funding extension for the agency when conservatives rebelled because the bill did not block Obama's executive orders on immigration. On a second try late in the evening, House Democrats provided the votes to pass a one-week extension.
Democrats said they were optimistic a bill with nearly $40 billion in department funding for the full fiscal year, already passed by the Senate, would advance in the House next week.
In urging her fellow House Democrats to support the one-week extension, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to members: "Your vote tonight will assure that we will vote for full funding next week."
The extension will give both chambers of Congress more time to work out their differences on funding for the super-agency that spearheads domestic counterterrorism efforts.
Boehner could risk another round of challenges from conservatives if he puts up for a House vote the Senate's "clean" funding bill without the immigration restrictions.