After rebuffing one last Republican effort to attach a domestic oil drilling amendment, the House on Friday passed the first fiscal 2009 appropriations bill to reach the floor of either chamber.

The $118.7 billion Military Construction-VA spending bill was passed by 409-4, as the House wrapped up business and left Washington for its five-week summer break.

It was the only one of the 12 fiscal 2009 appropriations bills to pass this session. Democrats are expected to roll most of the spending bills into a huge continuing resolution (CR) that would provide funding for most agencies at fiscal 2008 levels until early next year, when a new president will occupy the White House.

President Bush has repeatedly threatened to veto appropriations bills that exceed his discretionary spending requests, but Democrats are determined to boost spending for key domestic priorities — and for veterans.

The Military Construction-VA bill would provide $72.7 billion in discretionary spending, $8.8 billion more than Congress provided in fiscal 2008 and $3.4 billion more than President Bush requested, according to the House Appropriations Committee. Most of the increase would go to veterans’ health care.

Although the bill itself drew broad bipartisan support, Republicans seized on it as a final pre-recess opportunity to promote their energy agenda, which is built around calls to open more U.S. public lands and offshore areas to oil and gas drilling.

Their last-ditch effort to recommit the bill with instructions to attach their energy package was ruled out of order, and their appeal was tabled 230-184.

Before final passage, the House rejected, 63 to 350, an amendment by Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and John Campbell, R-Calif., that would have cut 103 earmarks, totaling $429.3 million, from the bill.

Flake and Campbell called the earmark vote progress, saying that previous amendments to strip all earmarks from bills received fewer votes.

Several amendments that aim to boost the VA’s capacity to treat veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other mental disorders were introduced, but then withdrawn after leaders pledged to work with sponsors on their proposals.