House Republicans may tie approval of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline to an extension of the payroll tax cut backed by President Barack Obama, Speaker John Boehner said.
“All options are on the table,” Boehner said today on the “Fox News Sunday” program. “The Keystone pipeline is a bipartisan issue in the Congress.”
Last week, the Obama administration denied a permit for the $7 billion pipeline, saying more time is needed to make a decision on a the project under review since 2008. Boehner criticized the decision, saying it will keep jobs from being added in the U.S.
Boehner, who as House speaker will sit behind Obama on Tuesday during the president’s State of the Union address to Congress, said the priorities Obama plans to discuss in that speech are “pathetic.”
“It sounds to me like the same old policies we’ve seen, more spending, higher taxes, more regulation,” Boehner said.
© Copyright 2013 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.