In a major victory for United States President Barack Obama, Democrats have pushed a huge US$787 billion economic stimulus bill to the brink of final passage in Congress.

Republican opposition was unanimous in the House of Represen-tatives and nearly so in the Senate Friday night, although three moderate GOP senators provided critical support for the bill.

The vote in the House was 246-183 for the package of tax cuts and federal spending that Obama made the centrepiece of his plan for economic recovery.

The Senate was following suit in a roll call that was without suspense, but was extended into the night. That was to allow time for Senator Sherrod Brown to fly back from Ohio, where his mother had died. He was to provide the 60th vote necessary for passage.