WASHINGTON — Republicans overwhelmed divided Democrats to whisk tax breaks for businesses, families, and special interests through the House on Thursday as Congress sped toward final votes on a year-crowning budget accord that will also bankroll the government in 2016.
The tax measure, approved 318-109, includes political coups for both parties. More than 50 expiring tax cuts will be extended with more than 20 becoming permanent, including credits for companies' expenditures for research and equipment purchases and reductions for lower-earning families and households with children and college students.
''Finally with this tax bill, families and businesses are going to have the long-term certainty that they need instead of scrambling year after year to find out what's next,'' declared House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin.
Ryan, who just six weeks ago succeeded John Boehner as speaker, all but claimed the bill's passage as a personal triumph, citing it as an example of his drive ''to get our House back on track.'' The Senate aimed to approve the tax bill Friday.
Both chambers also planned Friday votes on the second leg of the budget compromise, a $1.1 trillion measure financing government. After that, Congress was expected to adjourn until January.
Overall, the budget pact was modest, with many on each side describing it as the best deal they could get under divided government. It was arguably most noteworthy for what it didn't include, such as GOP efforts to halt Planned Parenthood's federal money and Democratic pushes for stiffened gun curbs.
While Republicans voted nearly in lockstep for the tax measure, it split Democrats, who opposed it by 106-77.
Of the all-Democrat Massachusetts delegation, only Representative Niki Tsongas of Lowell voted against the measure. Representative Joseph Kennedy III of Brookline did not vote.
While some Democrats said it was an opportunity to make family tax breaks permanent, others complained it was too skewed toward business. They also said its price tag — exceeding $600 billion over a decade — would swell federal deficits and make money scarcer for domestic programs the party treasures.
''It's a Trojan horse and we should not be fooled,'' said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi of California.
That attitude was not shared by Senate minority leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, who was backing the measure. The White House said President Obama would sign both the tax and spending bills.
Pelosi added a bit of drama to the buildup to debate on the spending bill, saying she wasn't certain there would be enough Democratic votes for it to pass. She cited opposition to that measure's lifting of the 40-year old ban on exporting American crude oil and the bill's lack of language letting Puerto Rico restructure its debt.
And most Republicans were expected to oppose the spending measure, which many GOP lawmakers who complain of excessive federal spending often do. Even so, GOP leaders exhibited little nervousness about the fate of that wide-ranging bill, which included everything from language prodding companies to give cyberthreat information to the government to restricting visa-free entry to the United States.
Presidential politics provided a bit of background music in the Senate.
Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida and a presidential candidate, complained Thursday that the spending bill wouldn't do enough to keep Syrian refugees from the United States and suggested he would use procedural delays and slow the measure to call attention to the issue. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, scheduled the votes for Friday anyway.