The White House affirmed Tuesday that President Barack Obama would veto the bill from Congress to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which has the support of a fillabuster-proof 60 senators and is expected to be one of the first items the new Republican-majority House and Senate take up.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
“We put out a statement of administration policy stating that the president would veto it if that bill passed the previous Congress,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. “I can confirm for you that if this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign it either."
Earnest said Obama won't circumvent a State Department review of the pipeline project by signing it into law.
"There is already a well-established process in place to consider whether infrastructure projects like this are in the best interest of the country," he said.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) shot back in a statement saying the pipeline had broad bipartisan support.
“After years of manufacturing every possible excuse, today President Obama was finally straight with the them about where he truly stands,” Boehner said. "His answer is no to more American infrastructure, no to more American energy, and no to more American jobs. Fringe extremists in the president’s party are the only ones who oppose Keystone, but the president has chosen to side with them instead of the American people and the government’s own scientific evidence that this project is safe for the environment. This is simply another sign that President Obama is hopelessly out of touch and has no plans to listen to the American people or champion their priorities.”
