Senate may force vote to approve Keystone XL in lame duck session

Republicans have made clear their intent to force approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project once the new Congress takes power in January, but now there’s reason to believe they might not have to wait that long.

Senate Democrats — who will maintain their slim majority until the lame duck session ends in December — are reportedly mulling a bill that would circumvent the president’s authority over international pipeline projects.

For years, the White House has weighed whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline extension, which could bring as many as 830,000 barrels of crude tar sands oil daily from Canada to the United States. Opposition to the pipeline extension has become something of a rallying cry for environmental activists, but vast majority of Republicans, alongside many conservative Democrats, support the Keystone XL project.

The pipeline extension, which the Canadian company TransCanada originally proposed in 2008, requires the approval of the State Department and the White House to move forward. Yet a bill introduced this summer by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., would change that.

The Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act, if passed, would allow the project to move forward without the formal approval of the executive branch. (Sen. Landrieu had previously co-sponsored similar legislation with Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota.)

Senate Democratic leadership is now reportedly considering whether to hold a floor vote on Landrieu’s bill before the lame duck session ends. If such a vote takes place, it could force President Obama into the position of either approving a project opposed by much of his base or issuing a veto against legislation seemingly supported by many Congressional members of his own party.

So why move it to the floor during the lame duck at all? Because Landrieu is currently in a tight runoff race with Republican House member Bill Cassidy, and she’s in danger of losing her seat when the state votes again on December 6. By allowing Landrieu to cast a vote for Keystone XL, Democrats may hope that she’ll be able to gain some votes in her conservative home state, and blunt a potential line of attack by Cassidy, who also supports Keystone XL.

Karthik Ganapathy, spokesperson for the anti-Keystone environmental group 350.org, expressed skepticism that the vote would take place before December 6.

“I think rumors are rumors until a decision is made,” he said. “I think the national Democrats know better. They have their eyes on 2016, and they’re looking at ways to motivate the base.”

Nonetheless, President Obama may feel the need to take action on Keystone before the end of the lame duck session. The incoming Republican Senate majority has signaled that Keystone XL approval will be one of its main priorities. If Congress doesn’t vote to approve the extension in December, it may very well do so in January. That leaves the White House with little time to address the issue if it hopes to avoid a confrontation with the legislative branch.