Updated 10:40 a.m. -- Just as the fiscal-cliff negotiations are drawing to a close, a fresh controversy is brewing in the House of Representatives after Republican leadership decided they will not vote during the 112th Congress on a bill to provide supplemental aid to victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Both Republicans and Democrats lashed out at Republican leadership for what one Republican called a "personal betrayal," after it was decided that the bill would not be considered until the 113th Congress, which convenes at noon Thursday.

"For the Speaker to just walk out is inexcusable," Rep. Peter King (R-NY-Long Island) told reporters. "It's wrong, and I'm saying that as a member of the Republican Party."

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said in a short statement: "The Speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month." 

That assurance was not enough for the members of districts affected by Sandy.

"I feel it is a personal betrayal," Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY-Staten Island) said. "But I think more importantly, when you parse out all the politics, the people of this country that have been devastated are looking at this as a betrayal by the Congress and by the nation, and that is just untenable and unforgivable."

A bipartisan group of eight lawmakers gathered after protesting the move on the House floor after the House vote late Tuesday night to pass a bill to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff." That bill passed 257-167. 

The House had originally planned to consider a two-step bill that would start with $27 billion in supplemental aid, but also include an amendment worth an additional $33 billion. The bill had been split to allow conservative Republicans to vote for a base level of additional aid, but not the entire package, which many Republicans said did not entirely go to those affected by Sandy.

The Senate passed a bill on Dec. 28 by a vote of 61-33 that would provide $60.2 billion in additional aid to victims of Superstorm Sandy. During that vote 12 Republicans voted for the measure, but only after a replacement amendment that would have stripped $35 billion from the bill failed to pass.

"It passed the Senate in a bipartisan way," Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) said. "And again, to me, this is a real betrayal, a betrayal of the leadership of the Republican Party."

According to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), he had been speaking with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) on a regular basis about when the bill would be coming to the floor for a vote. 

Cantor, whose office schedules what bills come to the floor and when, told Hoyer that he was "99.9 percent confident" that the bill would be considered after the fiscal-cliff legislation was considered.

"I urge the Speaker to reconsider and bring this bill to the floor," Hoyer said. "Do not walk away from these millions of people; do not walk away from these states that have been damaged."

An aide for Cantor said that the majority leader "is committed to ensuring the urgent needs of New York and New Jersey residents are met, and he has been working tirelessly toward that goal."

But even after these conversations between Cantor and other members of the House, it's unclear why Republican leadership decided not to consider the bill before the 112th Congress came to a close. 

FEMA told lawmakers in December they have enough emergency funds to take them through the spring, but the members protesting the change Tuesday night said the supplemental bill includes key funds for programs that go past the emergency phase of the Superstorm Sandy response.

An emotional King went so far Wednesday to urge residents of New York and New Jersey to halt donations to his own party in the House as a result of the chamber's inaction. 

"I’m saying right now, anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to congressional Republicans is out of their minds," he said on Fox News. "Because what they did last night was put a knife in the back of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans. It was an absolute disgrace.”

The House is in session Wednesday, beginning at 10:00 am ET, but according to aides, no legislation is scheduled to be considered.  The 112th Congress must adjourn by 11:59 am ET Thursday, so the 113th Congress can gavel in at noon on that day.

Any legislation that passed either the House or Senate has to be re-passed once the new Congress is sworn in.

NBC's Carrie Dann contributed to this report.

Updated at 12:32 a.m. ET: An agreement to stave off the harshest and most immediate consequences of the fiscal cliff won approval in the House late Tuesday. President Barack Obama signed the law on Wednesday night, the battle over which foreshadowed more fights with Congress over spending.

Following a day of hectic wrangling on Capitol Hill — where the prospects for passing the bipartisan, Senate legislation regarding the fiscal cliff hung in the balance for much of New Year's Day — the House voted 257 to 167 to pass the belated compromise measure over the objections of many conservative Republicans.

The legislation takes steps toward resolving the combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that took effect at midnight on Jan. 1. It preserves tax rates as they were at the end of 2012, except for those individuals earning more than $400,000 and households earning over $450,000. It also allows taxes on capital gains and dividends to go up, and extends benefits of the unemployed. Additionally, the Senate bill delays the onset of the "sequester" — the swift, automatic spending cuts — for two months. 

Fiscal cliff compromise leaves few satisfied

"Thanks to the votes of Democrats and Republicans in Congress I will sign a law that raises the taxes on the wealthiest of Americans," Obama said in remarks at the White House Tuesday, "while preventing a middle-class tax hike."

The House vote laid bare some of the internal ideological divisions to plague the GOP over the past two years. More Republican congressmen (151) voted against the Senate bill than for it (85), meaning that Democrats' support was needed to advance the final deal. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, took the rare step of casting a vote, and did so in favor of the legislation. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the former Republican vice presidential nominee, also supported the package. But Boehner's top two lieutenants, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., each opposed the deal.

"Now the focus turns to spending," Boehner said in a statement following the House vote. "The American people re-elected a Republican majority in the House, and we will use it in 2013 to hold the president accountable for the ‘balanced’ approach he promised, meaning significant spending cuts and reforms to the entitlement programs that are driving our country deeper and deeper into debt."

While the last-minute action on Capitol Hill essentially mitigates much of the risk posed to the U.S. economic recovery by the fiscal cliff, it hardly brings resolution to the bitter and often intractable fight in Washington over taxes and spending. The first half of 2013 will feature battles in Congress over raising the debt limit, continuing basic government funding and the expiration of this two-month delay in the sequester. 

Bipartisan outrage after House skips vote on $60 billion Sandy aid bill

Obama nodded to those looming fights in his remarks Tuesday evening, renewing his call for "balance" in any solution in the coming year to address deficits and debts. But the president also sternly warned Congress against using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip, as Republicans had in summer of 2011.

"While I'll negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress over whether to pay the bills they have racked up," Obama said.

PhotoBlog: Deal done, Obama heads back to Hawaii with a weary wink

The fiscal cliff itself was the product of discord in Congress resolving those very issues. And the difficulty in attaining even this less ambitious piece of legislation — versus the kind of "grand bargain" Obama had first sought in talks with Republicans — offered a cautionary tale for the 113th Congress, in which the House and the Senate remain controlled by the same parties as during the past two years. 

Squabbling
And even for much of Tuesday, House approval of the fiscal legislation — which was negotiated by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Vice President Joe Biden — was far from certain. GOP leaders were forced to cajole conservatives who complained the fallback deal contained insufficient spending cuts. Only after it became clear that Republicans wouldn't have the votes to amend the Senate proposal — which the upper chamber said it wouldn't even consider — did House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, bring the bill to the floor. 

The squabbling was familiar to any observers of Congress during the past two years. This divide almost resulted in a government shutdown and a default on the national debt in 2011. It again threatened Tuesday to allow the painful, across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts to play out just as the U.S. economic recovery showed signs of accelerating.

PhotoBlog: See images of Congress working overtime to avoid fiscal cliff

And this deal just approved by Congress in the waning hours of 2013's first day all but ensures that much of the coming year will be dominated by similar battles in Washington. Republicans are hopeful they might be able to extract more spending cuts and entitlement reforms with the government up against other deadlines, like the one needed this spring to authorize more government borrowing. 

That could complicate Obama's already-ambitious second term agenda. The president said just this past Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he will seek comprehensive immigration reform legislation and new laws to address gun violence.

House Speaker John Boehner, when asked about the way forward after Plan B went down to defeat, said, "God only knows."

Today, in the opening prayer at the start of the House session at noon ET, the House chaplain made a rare appeal to the heavens for compromise.

"May an imperfect compromise, when viewed from the perspective of our differences, not be undermined by a desire for political victory," House Chaplain Patrick Conroy implored.

Here's what he said in full: 

"Let us pray. Eternal God, we give you thanks for giving us another day, a new year. The political struggles of the past year have revealed the divisions that exist in our nation. There are many American citizens who are angry, frustrated, and anxious for the future. This day is a day of history. Send your spirit upon the members of the people’s house. May an imperfect compromise when viewed from the perspective of our differences not be undermined by a desire for political victory. This is difficult for all. Give each member the grace and courage to forge a constructive solution for the greater good of the nation and all Americans. Help us to trust that no matter what, you will not abandon us. May all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory. Amen."

After Plan B, Boehner pointed at the president and the Senate to get something done. "Now, it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff," he said then in a statement.

Now, it is up to Boehner whether he puts the bill, which passed the Senate 89-8, on the floor for a vote.