The District of Columbia took a significant step toward winning a full vote in the House on Tuesday as the Senate cleared the way for legislation that would permanently expand House membership for the first time in almost a century.

The Senate voted 62 to 34 to begin debating a measure that would also grant an additional House seat to Utah, enlarging the House to 437 seats. In 2007 supporters of the bill fell three votes short of overcoming a Senate filibuster against it.

Sponsors of the voting bill were optimistic they could win Senate approval by the end of the week after consideration of changes proposed by Republican opponents. The Senate would then begin to work out differences with the House in hopes of quickly sending a bill to President Obama, who has indicated he would sign it. A court challenge is considered a certainty.