Keystone Bill Said to Be Four Votes Shy of a Veto-Proof Majority
Supporters of a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline lack the votes to overcome a potential presidential veto and will seek changes during debate to pick up Democratic support, a key Republican lawmaker said.
Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, said the legislation he’ll introduce tomorrow that would circumvent President Barack Obama has 63 votes – enough to pass but four shy of what’s needed to override a veto.
Supporters have time to “break through the gridlock” and force the president’s hand on the project TransCanada Corp. (TRP) proposed seven years ago, Hoeven said today in an interview. “The whole idea is to have an open process and let people offer amendments.”
Keystone will be the first legislative showdown as Republicans tomorrow take control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 2006. A Senate committee is scheduled to consider Hoeven’s bill Wednesday and vote Thursday with action by the full Senate as soon as next week. The House is expected to vote on a similar Keystone bill this week.
The pipeline is under review by the State Department.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated today Obama’s concerns about Keystone, including its possible link to global warming and its nominal impact on gasoline prices. He declined to say Obama will veto it, saying “we don’t want to put the cart before the horse” before a measure is introduced.
TransCanada proposed Keystone in 2008 to carry Canadian oil through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska toward U.S. refineries along the Gulf of Mexico coast. It’s been held up in a political feud over jobs, climate change and energy prices.
One Vote
The Senate in November fell one vote short of the 60 needed to advance legislation approving the project. Republican election victories make it likely Congress can send a measure to Obama for the very first time. The House passed a Keystone-approving bill last year.
Democratic leaders opposed to legislation circumventing the federal review process are urging their colleagues to back a series of amendments they say will show differences with Republicans, who are unified in their support of Keystone.
“Consideration of this bill will provide us with the first opportunity to demonstrate that we will be united, energetic and effective in offering amendments that create a clear contrast with the Republican majority,” Senator Charles Schumer of New York and Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan said in a letter to colleagues late Sunday.
They plan to offer amendments that would ban the export of any crude oil transported through the U.S. over the pipeline, and require that American-made iron, steel and manufactured goods be used in the pipeline’s construction and maintenance.
Veto Urged
Schumer said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that even if amendments pass he would urge Obama to veto the legislation and he believes Democratic opponents have enough votes to uphold it.
Hoeven said he’s hopeful other amendments will help win more Democratic support. One amendment would boost exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, and another would increase energy efficiency – a measure with bipartisan support that stalled in the last session of Congress.
Obama has criticized arguments that Keystone is an economic boon. At a year-end news conference Dec. 19, said Keystone will be “very good for Canadian oil companies, and it’s good for the Canadian oil industry, but it’s not going to be a huge benefit to U.S. consumers. It’s not even going to be a nominal benefit to U.S. consumers.”
The president, who has avoided a definitive declaration on Keystone, has said the State Department review should be allowed to proceed.
In a Dec. 8 TV appearance with Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central, he said the pipeline is “a potential contributor” to rising temperatures caused by carbon emissions. He also questioned whether it would have the type of impact on U.S. jobs that supporter say it would.
“It’s good for Canada,” he said. “It could create a couple of thousand jobs in the initial construction of the pipeline, but we’ve got to measure that against whether or not it is going to contribute to an overall warming of the planet that could be disastrous.”
Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, said the legislation he’ll introduce tomorrow that would circumvent President Barack Obama has 63 votes – enough to pass but four shy of what’s needed to override a veto.
Supporters have time to “break through the gridlock” and force the president’s hand on the project TransCanada Corp. (TRP) proposed seven years ago, Hoeven said today in an interview. “The whole idea is to have an open process and let people offer amendments.”
Keystone will be the first legislative showdown as Republicans tomorrow take control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 2006. A Senate committee is scheduled to consider Hoeven’s bill Wednesday and vote Thursday with action by the full Senate as soon as next week. The House is expected to vote on a similar Keystone bill this week.
The pipeline is under review by the State Department.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated today Obama’s concerns about Keystone, including its possible link to global warming and its nominal impact on gasoline prices. He declined to say Obama will veto it, saying “we don’t want to put the cart before the horse” before a measure is introduced.
TransCanada proposed Keystone in 2008 to carry Canadian oil through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska toward U.S. refineries along the Gulf of Mexico coast. It’s been held up in a political feud over jobs, climate change and energy prices.
One Vote
The Senate in November fell one vote short of the 60 needed to advance legislation approving the project. Republican election victories make it likely Congress can send a measure to Obama for the very first time. The House passed a Keystone-approving bill last year.
Democratic leaders opposed to legislation circumventing the federal review process are urging their colleagues to back a series of amendments they say will show differences with Republicans, who are unified in their support of Keystone.
“Consideration of this bill will provide us with the first opportunity to demonstrate that we will be united, energetic and effective in offering amendments that create a clear contrast with the Republican majority,” Senator Charles Schumer of New York and Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan said in a letter to colleagues late Sunday.
They plan to offer amendments that would ban the export of any crude oil transported through the U.S. over the pipeline, and require that American-made iron, steel and manufactured goods be used in the pipeline’s construction and maintenance.
Veto Urged
Schumer said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that even if amendments pass he would urge Obama to veto the legislation and he believes Democratic opponents have enough votes to uphold it.
Hoeven said he’s hopeful other amendments will help win more Democratic support. One amendment would boost exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, and another would increase energy efficiency – a measure with bipartisan support that stalled in the last session of Congress.
Obama has criticized arguments that Keystone is an economic boon. At a year-end news conference Dec. 19, said Keystone will be “very good for Canadian oil companies, and it’s good for the Canadian oil industry, but it’s not going to be a huge benefit to U.S. consumers. It’s not even going to be a nominal benefit to U.S. consumers.”
The president, who has avoided a definitive declaration on Keystone, has said the State Department review should be allowed to proceed.
In a Dec. 8 TV appearance with Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central, he said the pipeline is “a potential contributor” to rising temperatures caused by carbon emissions. He also questioned whether it would have the type of impact on U.S. jobs that supporter say it would.
“It’s good for Canada,” he said. “It could create a couple of thousand jobs in the initial construction of the pipeline, but we’ve got to measure that against whether or not it is going to contribute to an overall warming of the planet that could be disastrous.”
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