GOP: Obama ‘out of excuses’ on Keystone

Congressional Republicans were quick to pounce Friday after a Nebraska court cleared a crucial obstacle for the Keystone XL pipeline, saying construction should proceed as soon as possible.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said President Obama had no reason remaining to block the pipeline after its Nebraska route was cleared by the state’s Supreme Court.

{mosads}“President Obama is now out of excuses for blocking the Keystone pipeline and the thousands of American jobs it would create,” Boehner said Friday.

McConnell too said the clock had run out, pressing Obama to approve the $8 billion oil sands project.

“Today’s ruling provides the perfect opportunity for the president to change his unproductive posture on this jobs project and reverse his veto threat,” McConnell said.

The Senate’s third-ranking Republican, John Thune (S.D.), said Obama’s “litany of excuses” had now “hit a dead end.”

In reversing a lower court’s ruling, Nebraska’s Supreme Court upheld a law allowing the governor to approve the pipeline’s route through the state.

But the White House pushed back, arguing the State Department must still finish its review of the pipeline.

“Regardless of the Nebraska ruling today, the House bill still conflicts with longstanding Executive branch procedures regarding the authority of the President and prevents the thorough consideration of complex issues that could bear on U.S. national interests, and if presented to the President, he will veto the bill,” said White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz in a statement.

The House is set to vote on legislation to approve the Canada-to-Texas pipeline on Friday.

The Senate will start bring similar legislation to the floor on Monday despite the veto threat.

Proponents of the project have the needed 60 votes for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, all but guaranteeing the bill will be the first item sent to the president’s desk.