White House Unlikely to Support Senate Keystone Pipeline Bill

White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Jan. 6 said President Obama is not likely to sign a Senate bill that would greenlight construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

“I would not anticipate the president would sign this piece of legislation,” Earnest said, during a briefing with reporters. “The pipeline route has not even been finalized yet.”

The remarks about the veto threat came on the day Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) proposed legislation that would approve the pipeline. The bill already garnered 60 sponsors, the requisite backing to overcome Senate procedural measures.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans canceled a Jan. 7 Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Keystone bill. A Jan. 8 committee hearing to consider the bill remains on the schedule.

Senate Democratic leaders objected to the timing of the hearings, because the chambers’ committees are not officially organized.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said she agreed with the president’s position, adding, “It is a puzzle to me that after a deep recession, Republicans turn to legislation that according to the State Department will only create 35 permanent jobs. Instead, Republican leadership should immediately take up the highway bill which supports millions of jobs and will run out of funding in four short months."

The House has scheduled a Jan. 9 vote on its bill.”

The pipeline has support from a broad range of groups, including American Trucking Associations.

ATA spokesman Sean McNally said the federation supports the pipeline because it would advance “trade with our largest and most trusted partners to additional freight tonnage during construction as the trucking industry supports the energy sector and its suppliers on this strategically important project.”

The pipeline would transport crude oil from Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska before connecting to an existing pipeline.

Last year, the U.S. State Department stopped its interagency review of the pipeline. A Nebraska Supreme Court review of a lower court’s decision has halted the project.

Obama addresses Keystone XL pipeline at about the 30-second mark.