WASHINGTON — Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Thursday went along with a stopgap spending bill in the House that avoids a government shutdown but carries a price tag $19 billion higher than the budget he wrote in his role as a congressman.

Ryan, the top budget writer in the House, voted for a temporary spending bill that lets Congress keep government open for another six months. That allows lawmakers and President Obama to put off dicey budget talks until after the Nov. 6 election.

Politics, though, were not far from Ryan’s first day back to Congress since joining Mitt Romney’s presidential bid. He met informally behind closed doors with Republican lawmakers in what aides described as a meet-and-greet event.

The House chamber later erupted in a loud cheer — mostly from the Republican side — when Ryan entered the hall. Ryan held court in the rear of the chamber as back-slapping colleagues surrounded him. Among those congratulating him was the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, with whom Ryan has an adversarial but friendly relationship.

Ryan did not deliver remarks on the House floor ahead of the vote approving spending far greater than his budget outline.

‘‘The fact that a stopgap measure is necessary is another indictment of the president’s failure to lead,’’ said Ryan’s campaign spokesman, Brendan Buck.

Democrats worked to highlight components of Ryan’s budget plan that would fundamentally change seniors’ health care and young voters’ education options.