WASHINGTON – The House pressed ahead Thursday to complete a $608 billion defense spending bill for next year that adds billions to President Barack Obama's request and breaks a budget deal that Congress backed last year.

The White House has threatened a veto of the spending bill for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The administration criticized the House for reneging on the spending levels that Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to last August. The bill would provide $519 billion for the Pentagon and another $88.5 billion for the war in Afghanistan, an increase of $1.1 billion over current spending and $3 billion more than Obama requested.

Democrats challenged the bill's spending levels, offering an amendment to return the measure to the levels in the budget deal.