Senate to vote on Keystone

The Senate will vote on a bill that would approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline next week.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) requested unanimous consent Wednesday night to proceed on a vote that green lights the oil sands project in a last ditch effort to boost her reelection bid.

{mosads}Landrieu’s request and agreement to a modification by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) sets the chamber up for a vote on the pipeline as early as Tuesday.

Landrieu told reporters that she is confident Keystone supporters now have enough votes in the Senate to send bill approving the project to President Obama’s desk.

“I am glad that we will now have an up-or-down vote on the Hoeven-Landrieu bill to green light the Keystone pipeline, and I urge all senators to join me in the effort to approve this important project,” she said in a statement.

To get to the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster, Landrieu needs to lure roughly five more Democrats to her side. Eleven already support it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office confirmed the Keystone vote scheduled for next Tuesday, stating there would be up to six hours of debate after which a vote would likely be held.

The Senate vote is set to come after a vote to approve the pipeline in the House on Thursday. The House will vote on a bill introduced by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who is running against Landrieu in a December runoff. 

Landrieu said that she is confident that the bill could “potentially receive the signature of the president of the United States.”

“We can have the Keystone pipeline and answer the frustrations of the American people so they can. . .. say ‘Oh my gosh, the senators of United States of America have ears, and they have brains, they have hearts and they heard what we said,”” Landrieu said.

“I have been working for years to pass this legislation, and now the Democratic caucus seems ready to move on it,” he said. “Elections have consequences.

Hoever said he had thought it would be necessary to wait for the next Congress in January to get the vote.

“But if 15 Democrats will join us, we can pass the bill now, and we should,” he said.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was quick to take credit for the deal.

“The American people have elected a new Republican majority in the Senate and that has already made a difference,” he said in a statement. “I was glad to see that Senate Democrats have finally backed off trying to obstruct construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. I hope this post-election conversion on Keystone signals Democrat cooperation on a whole host of other energy bills they have blocked, and whose passage would help to make America more energy-independent.”

This story was updated at 6:50 p.m.