US economy stimulus package passed

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The House of Representatives voted 244 to 188 in favour of the bill.

But despite heavy lobbying by the president in recent days, no Republicans backed the plan - a mix of tax cuts and spending projects. The plan will now go to the Senate for debate.

The vote was the first big political test of the Mr Obama's plan to revive the flatlined American economy. Although it passed the House vote, the lack of bipartisan support will come as a blow to the president.

Mr Obama has said he hopes to sign something into law by mid-February. The lack of Republican support will leave the president open to criticism if the package fails to pull the US economy out of recession.

In a bid to win round political opponents, Mr Obama earlier held face-to-face meetings with Republicans, during which he pressed the case for the package - which consists of 550 billion US dollars (£389 billion) in spending and 275 billion US dollars (£195 billion) in tax cuts.

But despite his efforts, Republicans voted against the plan. They claim that it represents too much spending and not enough tax cuts

Speaking before the vote, the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives John Boehner said: "The bill that is on the floor of the House, we don't think will work.

"Frankly we are disappointed in the product that we see - a lot of wasteful spending that will not create jobs. We think there is a better way."

An alternative Republican proposal was rejected in the House of Representatives by 266 to 170.