The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives defied a veto threat by President Barack Obama on Friday and voted to take money from his healthcare overhaul to extend low-interest rates for federal student loans.

On a mostly party-line vote of 215-195, the House sent the measure to the Senate where Obama's Democrats are certain to reject it. Like the president, they want to renew the low rate, but favor covering the one-year, $6 billion cost by ending a tax break for the rich.

The matter has emerged as an issue in advance of the Nov. 6 congressional and presidential elections. Both sides are vying for the youth vote and the support of parents struggling help put their children through college.

Democrats and Republicans have until July 1 to find a compromise. That is when the rate is set to double on Stafford loans to 6.8 percent for more than 7 million students.

Obama cranked up pressure on Congress in recent weeks with visits to college campuses where he portrayed Republicans as unsympathetic to their plight.