The incoming administration also plans to post each expenditure from the program on a Web site the public can access, Republican senators said.

As the voted neared, Democratic leaders battled to nail down every vote they could, huddling in the well of the Senate and checking as each new “yes” or “no” was announced.

They drew a little help from Republicans, as well as votes from outgoing Democratic Sens. Joseph R. Biden R., D-Del., and Hillary Rodham Clinton , D-N.Y. Democrat Roland W. Burris of Illinois, sworn in only hours earlier, also lent a hand.

Biden resigned his Senate seat at 5 p.m., just after the roll call ended.

Obama’s advisers and Democratic leaders in Congress knew they had a better chance of blocking a resolution of disapproval in the Senate than in the House.

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., said said Obama’s letter, which was produced in response to Republican questions about the initial plan’s lack of detail, “satisfies a number of concerns.”

Easing Obama’s Path

Even if a disapproval resolution had gotten through Congress, Obama could veto it. But Democrats did not want their new president to take such a step during his first days in office.

Furthermore, a successful initial vote on a disapproval resolution could have rattled financial markets. Ironically, more bad news from that front may have helped Democrats.

Over the past few days, Republican senators have questioned the need to release the second half of the TARP money, citing the lack of a pressing crisis.

By Thursday afternoon, Democrats cited reports that Bank of America and Citigroup are in need of billions more in TARP funds as a way to refute those claims.

“Before yesterday there was almost no sense of crisis, and now it is and in a certain sense it focuses peoples’ minds on the need to do something,” said New York Democrat Charles E. Schumer . “The reason this is going to pass is the country and senators, both Democrats and Republicans, have faith that Obama will handle this much better than the previous administration.”

There is widespread anger in Congress about how the Bush administration has used the money. Lawmakers of both parties have also complained bitterly about what they see as a lack of accountability and transparency in the program.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. initially sold the bailout legislation (PL 110-343) to Congress as an authorization to purchase troubled assets, notably mortgage-backed securities, from banks and other financial institutions in order to shore up their balance sheets and get credit flowing again. But he soon abandoned that idea and shifted to making direct investments in banks.

Republican senators wanted public commitments from the incoming administration that the remaining funds will not be used for industries outside of financial institutions.

They were upset that the Bush administration funneled billions from the first half of the TARP to keep U.S. automakers afloat while they restructure.

House Restrictions

The Senate vote overshadowed House action on a related bill that would place restrictions on how Treasury uses the remainder of the bailout funding.

Although debate on that legislation (HR 384) began Thursday, House Democratic leaders said a vote on the bill and several amendments to it would be postponed until next week.

The House by 275-152 adopted a manager’s amendment to the bill offered by sponsor Barney Frank , D-Mass., chairman of the Financial Services Committee.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., said the House won’t decide how to proceed on the House version of a resolution of disapproval for the TARP until after the Senate votes. For the moment, at least, that House vote is expected next week.

“One step at a time,” Pelosi said. “Let’s see what the Senate does and then see what we have to do.”

She warned that House support for the second half of the $700 billion program will depend on passage Frank’s bill, which places a number of restrictions on the funding.

“I don’t think you’ll see us supporting anything unless the legislation put forward by Barney Frank passes,” Pelosi said.