Washington ? Without a vote to spare, Democrats pushed their health care legislation over its first obstacle on the Senate floor Saturday, as the chamber voted to begin formal debate of a sweeping measure to guarantee medical coverage for nearly all Americans.

The 60-39 vote — backed by all 58 Democrats and two independents — overcame a Republican-led filibuster designed to block consideration of the bill and kept up momentum behind President Barack Obama’s top legislative priority.

Although it was procedural, the dramatic balloting — before a rare packed gallery on a Saturday night — also set the stage for a historic health care debate that is expected to begin after Thanksgiving and consume the Senate for the remainder of this year.

“There is an emergency, and it exists, and it exists now,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said just before the vote. “The right response to disagreement is not dismissal. It’s discussion. … Let us debate our differences.”

Democratic congressional leaders, who got a health care bill through the House two weeks ago, are laboring to move legislation through the Senate by Christmas so they can deliver on the president’s top domestic priority by early next year.

Not one Republican backed the motion to proceed, which GOP lawmakers declared would pave the way for a government takeover of health care and drive up the national debt.