Embattled senator pushes for Keystone XL pipeline

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

In a blend of crude oil and raw politics, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu scrapped Thursday for converts among fellow Democrats for legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline before a runoff election that threatens to end her career in Congress.

The White House said President Barack Obama took a “dim view” of the bill but did not explicitly threaten a veto. Even so, Senate Democratic officials said the party’s leadership agreed to give Landrieu room to try and pass the measure only after receiving assurances that Obama would not sign it.

The maneuvering took place as House Republicans readied a vote for today on their own identical pipeline bill — advanced by Rep. Bill Cassidy, who is Landrieu’s rival in the Dec. 6 runoff. Landrieu led in a first round of voting last week, but Cassidy is favored to win the runoff, leaving Landrieu in urgent need of a way to shake up the race.

Landrieu sought to cast herself as an independent-minded lawmaker as she maneuvered for supporters for her bill in the Senate and for votes back home. “My leadership didn’t give me permission to do this. Nobody asked me to do it,” she said in remarks on the Senate floor.

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, offered a different view. “We never would have gotten to this point without the tireless leadership of Senator Hoeven in the Senate and Congressman Cassidy in the House, he said. Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota is the bill’s leading Republican supporter in the Senate.

Adding another layer of political complexity, Republicans said if the bill doesn’t become law in the next several days, they will make it a priority after a new Congress convenes in January, when they will have a majority in both houses and increased leverage over Obama.

“We aren’t finished. We’ll pass it as either part of broader energy legislation or as an amendment to another must-pass bill, either in the lame duck or in the new Congress,” said Hoeven.

The GOP-controlled House has voted several times to approve the pipeline, which would move oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. Legislation on the issue has always fallen victim to gridlock in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has worked to prevent its passage.

Supporters say construction of the pipeline is critical if the United States is to achieve energy security after decades of relying on oil imports that can fluctuate unpredictably in price.