The House passed legislation Friday that would green-light the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, as attention now shifts to an upcoming Senate vote next week.
The bill from Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La., passed 252-161, with all Republicans supporting — except one who voted present — and 31 Democrats joining them. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., have floated the same bill in the upper chamber, which is scheduled for a Tuesday vote.
President Obama, however, hinted Friday that he would veto the bill if it reached his desk. He reiterated that he would not let legislation circumvent the review process at the State Department, which has had the application for a cross-border permit needed to build the pipeline’s northern leg for more than six years.
“My position hasn’t changed, that this is a process that is supposed to be followed,” Obama said during a press conference in Burma, dashing some speculation that he could OK the legislation as an olive branch to the incoming Republican-led Senate.
Still, the upcoming Senate vote may well have an effect on the Dec. 6 runoff election between Cassidy and Landrieu in Louisiana.
Landrieu is lagging in the polls, and has based much of her campaign around her dealmaking abilities and her perch on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee — she is currently chairwoman, but would be the ranking Democrat in the new GOP-led Senate. But Republican organizations and Cassidy have slammed her as ineffective, saying she has yet to deliver on the Keystone XL bill she has long touted.
Senate backers are still short of the 60 votes needed to clear procedural hurdles, but not by much.
E&E News, a news publication that focuses on energy and environment policy, reported that Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., will likely support the bill, citing a spokesman. The bill’s backers also are hoping to sway Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who would be the 60th vote.
Even if the bill doesn’t clear the Senate during the lame-duck session, the GOP-led upper chamber plans to make it a top priority. The chamber will have a filibuster-proof majority, but Hoeven said it will likely have to tie a Keystone XL approval to broader energy or spending legislation to override an Obama veto.
“I think we’d have enough support for that,” Hoeven said of wrapping Keystone XL into a bigger package. “I don’t think he’d veto it, or if he did we could override it.”
