The Senate will move Wednesday on whether to proceed to an override attempt on President Obama’s veto of legislation authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline, with a potential vote coming Thursday, said a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Keystone XL backers will need 60 votes Wednesday to clear a procedural hurdle for an override attempt. The legislation garnered 62 votes when it passed in January, though pipeline supporter Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was absent. It remains to be seen whether all nine supporting Democrats remain on board, given the apparent affront to Obama.
In the event a veto override fails, which seems likely, Republicans have said they plan to wrap legislation lightgreen-lighting the 1,700-mile pipeline into a spending measure or broader bill, such as the federal highway bill.
But Democrats who oppose the $8 billion Canada-to-Texas project say they’re confident Obama would continue to nix legislative attempts to OK Keystone XL.
The administration has maintained it would reject bills that circumvent a federal reviewfor a cross-border permit TransCanada Corp. needs to build the pipeline’s northern leg.That State Department review has been ongoing for more than six years.
Pipeline supporters say Obama has had plenty of time to assess the project and have criticized him for holding up the 42,100 jobs the State Department said the pipeline would provide during its two-year construction phase. But opponents are concerned Keystone XL would lock in and drive development of carbon-dense oil sands that they say would worsen climate change.
