During today's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirmed that President Obama wouldn't sign the Keystone XL Pipeline legislation soon to pass the Republican House and Senate into law. Earnest explained that the imminent bill to come from Congress would likely mirror the one brought up just a month ago which Obama had formally taken a stance against. Obama never needed to issue a veto because the legislation didn't surpass the 60 vote threshold required in the Senate.
Earnest didn't actually use the term "veto" until he was asked again to clarify his comments. Emboldened, Earnest made it clear on five different occasions that the President would indeed use the veto. He said that the legislation would undermine administrative efforts to evaluate the project and expressed skepticism about the claims made by the pipeline's advocates. Earnest argued that a definitive decision was not made because the rout of the pipeline through Nebraska had still not yet been finalized.
This is certainly a major development on the progress and path forward for the pipeline. The Administration has received criticism from both Republicans and Democrats about Obama's perceived indecisiveness.
"I think the president needs to make a decision," Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said. "A lot of us are frustrated it has taken this long."
The future of the Keystone XL Pipeline is certainly in question. The House and Senate are sure to pass the bill as soon as this week. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) believes that if the President does veto the legislation, Democrats in the Senate would be able to hold over one-third of the vote to sustain the veto.