Washington ? The House passed legislation Friday to head off a government shutdown next week by temporarily extending spending on most federal programs at current levels, while boosting lawmakers’ office budgets by more than 8 percent.

The House passed the measure by a 217-190 vote. It would keep the government running for another month and it also patches over problems in the financially struggling Postal Service and funds soon-to-expire highway programs for another month as well.

But in an unusual step, those measures were tacked onto a $4.7 billion House-Senate compromise bill that will fund Congress’ own budget. That measure was chosen because it can’t be amended before being presented to President Barack Obama, which saves time — and spares Democrats politically difficult votes on both the House and Senate floors.