Setting up the first presidential veto, the House of Representatives will vote next week on the Senate-passed bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, told reporters Tuesday that the measure would pass and would be sent to the President’s desk. The House already passed a similar version of the legislation last month, but rather than reconciling the minor differences on the two bills in a conference committee, House Republican leaders decided to go the quickest route and take up the Senate bill.
After taking control of both chambers of Congress this year both House and Senate GOP leaders made the fight over Keystone their first legislative priority.
Last week nine Senate Democrats joined Republicans to back the legislation, but proponents of the pipeline fell short of securing enough votes to override a veto.
President Barack Obama has said the decision on whether or not to move forward with the pipeline should reside with the executive branch and vowed he would not sign any legislation to approve Keystone.