Instead, by a 224-193 vote, the House stood by a Democratic plan to allow suspected enemy combatants held at the Navy base in Cuba to be shipped to U.S. soil - but only to be prosecuted for their suspected crimes.

The Guantanamo restrictions were attached by House-Senate negotiators on a $42.8 billion homeland security appropriations bill. The measure subsequently passed, 307-114. It goes to the Senate for a final vote that could come as early as next week.

Obama has ordered the Guantanamo facility closed in January but has yet to offer a plan to meet his deadline.

Democratic leaders had to push hard to win the vote, because many Democrats two weeks ago cast a nonbinding but politically safe vote against any Guantanamo detainee transfers. But several Democrats from swing districts said they saw little political risk on yesterday's vote.

"It's a nonissue - inside-the-Beltway stuff," first-term Rep. Dan Maffei (D., N.Y.) said. "People care about jobs, the economy, health care."

"I haven't had one person ask me about Guantanamo," said Rep. Baron Hill (D., Ind.). He said he did "not in the least" fear it as an issue in next year's elections.

Allowing the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to U.S. soil for trial had been a bipartisan compromise earlier. It mostly tracks restrictions put in place in June and is similar to a version Republicans backed earlier in the year. In fact, Republicans such as top Appropriations panel Rep. Jerry Lewis of California helped fashion the compromise.

But in the absence of a plan from the administration for closing the facility, Lewis has toughened his talk.

"Terrorists should not be treated like common criminals in federal court," Lewis said. "These detainees are enemies of the state, and should be treated as such by being held and brought to justice right where they are - in Guantanamo Bay."

Democrats say Republicans are simply seeking a political opening.

Obama still faces many hurdles in fulfilling his promise to close Guantanamo, several of them erected by his allies in Congress. The homeland security bill requires the administration to develop a plan before any further transfers. And Congress has refused to give Obama any money required to close the site.

Several fiscal-2010 funding bills contain varying restrictions on the transfer of Guantanamo detainees, reflecting widespread opposition among voters. The Senate-passed defense appropriations bill, for example, bans the release of Guantanamo detainees into the United States, including for trial or incarceration.

The underlying spending bill also backs the administration's refusal to release new photos showing U.S. personnel abusing detainees held overseas. The measure supports Obama's decision to allow the defense secretary to bar the release of detainee photos for three years.

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued to obtain unreleased photos of detainee abuse under the Freedom of Information Act and won two rounds in federal court. The measure would essentially trump the ACLU's case.

In response, the administration has appealed to the Supreme Court, and Obama has said he would use every available means to block release of additional detainee-abuse photos because they could whip up anti-American sentiment overseas and endanger U.S. troops.

How They Voted

Representatives from the Philadelphia area who voted for the Republican effort to block transfer of any Guantanamo detainees to the United States were John Adler (D., N.J.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting to stand by the Democratic plan were Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

All Philadelphia-area representatives voted for the underlying homeland security appropriations bill except Castle, who voted against it.