The vote for the so-called middle class tax package was 234 to 188, with just three Republicans joining 231 Democrats in favor; 20 Democrats and 168 Republicans were opposed.
Under current law the lower tax rates are due to expire at the end of the year. The bill approved by the House on Thursday would let that happen for income above $250,000 a year for families and $200,000 a year for individuals ? in keeping with Mr. Obama?s campaign pledge to end tax breaks for the wealthy ? but would make permanent the lower rates for income under those levels.
The bill has no chance of passage in the Senate, where even some Democrats say the lower rates should be extended for everyone, at least temporarily, given the continued weakness in the economy.
The House Republican leader and soon-to-be House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, derided the Democratic maneuver to force a vote on the bill in the House as ?chicken crap.?
Still, the measure held enormous symbolism for Democrats, including the outgoing speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, who used the debate to accuse Republicans of standing for the rich. Extending the tax breaks for the top two income levels would add about $700 billion more to the deficit than Mr. Obama?s original plan, which would add about $3 trillion to the deficit.
?Giving $700 billion to the wealthiest people in America does add $700 billion to the deficit, and the record and history shows it does not create jobs,? Ms. Pelosi said. She chastised Republicans for insisting on the tax breaks for high earners while threatening to block an extension of unemployment aid for millions of Americans whose benefits are starting to run out.
But even as lawmakers were debating the bill on the House floor, negotiators including the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, were discussing a plan that would temporarily extend the lower tax rates at all income levels.
Those talks are expected to continue into next week, but Senate Democrats said that in the meantime, the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, would bring the House-passed bill to the Senate floor as quickly as possible. Aides said that votes would be held either Friday or Saturday on both the House measure and an alternative proposal that would raise the income threshold at which the lower rates would expire to $1 million from $250,000.
Neither version is expected to win the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.
Some Republicans were feeling so emboldened by the strength of their negotiating position that they called on party leaders to reject any proposal for a temporary extension of the lower tax rates, and said they should insist on making all of the lower rates permanent, including a permanent elimination of the estate tax, which lapsed this year but is set to return in 2011.
Congressional Democrats expressed deepening frustration with the White House, which they said had made numerous missteps, giving Republicans the upper hand. And they expressed worries that the administration was ready to give in quickly to Republican demands, in a bid to preserve time on the Senate calendar for ratification of an arms control treaty with Russia known as New Start.
?I don?t know what?s worse, that Republicans held the Start treaty hostage to get lower tax rates, or that we let them do it,? one senior Democratic Senate aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the awkward tensions with the Democratic White House.
The lead negotiators for Congressional Democrats, Senator Max Baucus of Montana and Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, were said to be making a final push to extract further concessions from the Republicans in exchange for a temporary extension of the tax rates at all income levels, including a continuation of jobless benefits.
But Republicans seemed unwilling to give much if any ground, especially with the tight Congressional calendar on their side.
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans said they would halt virtually all business on the Senate floor until the tax debate was resolved and Congress had approved a temporary spending measure to finance the government at least through the early part of next year.
That effectively put Democrats in a vice, leaving them with little choice but to accede to the Republicans? demands or face the prospect of accomplishing almost nothing between now and the end of the year, when they lose their majority in the House and six seats in the Senate.
In a floor speech on Thursday, the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, essentially mocked his Democratic colleagues for complaining about the blockade, noting that they had created their own logjam of issues by delaying the tax debate until the last possible moment.
?Yesterday, we watched a number of Democrat senators come to the floor and express their exasperation at not being able to do what they want to do around here,? Mr. McConnell said. ?Astonishing. Let?s face it: most Americans aren?t particularly interested in the things Democrat leaders have put at the top of their to-do list.?
He chided Democrats for wanting to pass legislation authorizing repeal of the military?s ?don?t ask, don?t tell? policy banning gay soldiers from serving openly, and to bring up an immigration measure that would create a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants brought to the United States as young children.
?At the end of the month, every taxpayer suffers a pay cut, unless we stop it,? Mr. McConnell said, referring to the imminent expiration of the lowered tax rates. He added, in reference to Senate Democrats, ?They still don?t get it, and that?s why Republicans are insisting we put these things aside and finish the most important and urgent legislation, before time runs out.?