The U.S. Senate gave the green light yesterday to the bill for the immediate construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline; the final vote is expected to take place this week, although President Barack Obama has already threatened to veto the bill.
The Republicans, who now have 54 senators following their victory last November, needed to win over at least half a dozen Democrats to secure the support needed to pass the procedural motion—something that seemed straightforward.
However, what will not be so easy is securing a two-thirds supermajority (67 senators) in the final vote on the bill, which would prevent the president from vetoing the measure.
The House of Representatives already approved the bill last week by an overwhelming majority, with 266 votes in favor and 153 against, and it had the support of 28 Democrats.
The vote in the House of Representatives coincided with the Nebraska State Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the project’s supporters, which rejected the complaints filed by landowners through whose property this major infrastructure project would pass.
The resolution gave Republicans even more grounds to pressure Obama regarding the construction of the pipeline, which they consider necessary because of the jobs it would create and the increase in the country's energy independence.
Thus, Congress—which has a Republican majority in both chambers—continues to challenge the president, who has already warned that he would oppose legislation that would launch the project to transport heavy crude oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico through U.S. territory.
