WASHINGTON — Taking aim at Wall Street and the U.S. central bank, an important House committee voted Thursday to assess fees on large financial firms to pay for the failure of their peers and to require a sweeping congressional audit of the secretive Federal Reserve.

The votes were the final brush strokes to the House Financial Services Committee's response to last year's banking meltdown.

In a surprise, however, Democratic committee Chairman Barney Frank delayed final action on a long-awaited regulatory overhaul bill until after next Thursday's Thanksgiving national holiday. Frank said members of the Congressional Black Caucus requested the delay because they were "troubled by a lack of response to the economic situation."

Lawmakers have been pressing the Obama administration to take further steps to help the unemployed and create more jobs. "This is a critical issue for my constituents," said committee Democrat Maxine Waters, a member of the black caucus.

The votes on fees and on the Fed audit came despite objections from the Obama administration.

They illustrated the strong sentiment in Congress to curb the central bank's power and assure voters that taxpayers will not lose money in future Wall Street failures.

If Frank can win final passage in his committee in two weeks, the House could vote on the full overhaul next month.

The Senate Banking Committee began its own rewrite of the rules that govern Wall Street on Thursday, but the committee's top Republican panned the bill proposed by its chairman, Democrat Christopher Dodd.

From the sidelines, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner prodded Congress to move quickly on the measures.