Senate Passes Keystone XL 62-35, But Doesn’t Have The Votes To Override Obama’s Veto

The Senate passed a bill authorizing the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline today, but Republicans did not pick up enough votes to override President Obama’s expected veto.

After nearly a month of debate and amendments, the Senate passed the bill authorizing the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The vote was 62-36 in favor of the bill. Republicans remain five votes short of the number required to override President Obama’s veto.

Before the Senate votes, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continued to spread the lie that Keystone XL is a jobs bill, “The debate over these American jobs has shown that, with bipartisan cooperation, it’s possible to get Washington functioning again. This debate is also proving that the new Congress is ready to work hard for the middle class — even in the teeth of opposition from powerful special interests. Let’s notch one more win for the middle class by passing this important infrastructure project.Constructing Keystone would pump billions into our economy. It would support thousands of good American jobs. And as the President’s own State Department has indicated, it would do this with minimal environmental impact. The Keystone infrastructure project has been studied endlessly, from almost every possible angle, and the same general conclusion keeps becoming clear: build it. So let’s make some progress for the American people by voting to pass the Keystone jobs and infrastructure bill.”

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Republicans can try to sell Keystone XL as a jobs bill until they are blue in the face, but a majority of Americans aren’t buying it. The White House repeated their promise to veto the bill, “This Keystone project is undergoing review at the State Department. That is a process that long predates this administration. So we are opposed to any legislative maneuver that would circumvent that process.”

The bill will now go to committee for reconciliation, but the whole process is a giant of waste of time. President Obama will veto the Keystone XL bill as soon as it hits his desk, and Republicans do not have the votes to override his veto. Keystone XL marks another low water mark in the Republican era of congressional control.

Senate Republicans have wasted a month on Keystone XL, and all they will have for their efforts is a dead bill that lacks public support for their short cutting of the process. Republicans may have passed a bill, but Democrats are winning the war.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association