https://youtube.com/watch?v=P5PjBoiwjIs
White House press secretary Josh Earnest made it clear that the new Republican Congress won’t get far on the Keystone XL Pipeline, promising a presidential veto should the proposed bill reach President Obama’s desk.
A newly-christened GOP Senate is expected to pass a bill this month approving the pipeline, which would funnel oil from the tar sands of Canada through the United States to the Gulf of Mexico, The House, which already passed a similar bill last year, re-introduced similar legislation on Tuesday.
Last November the Senate tried, but narrowly failed, to pass a bill approving the pipeline. At that time, the White House warned that the bill would be vetoed even if it did reach the necessary 60-vote threshold. And on Tuesday, Earnest made it clear that the midterm elections did not change the president’s calculus.
“This piece of legislation is not altogether different than legislation introduced in the last conference,” he said. “And I can confirm for you that if this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign it either.”
Earnest went on to explain that Congress should not seek to subvert the “well-established process” to determine whether international projects such as the pipeline are in the national interest. The State Department and other agencies have worked on determining the pipeline’s desirability since early in Obama’s first term, but have yet to make a decision.