'I actually think the president will sign the bill on the Keystone pipeline,' Priebus said.
A confident Reince Priebus on Election Day predicted that a Republican controlled House and Senate will pass a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline — and that President Barack Obama will likely sign it.
In an appearance on MSNBC on Tuesday, the Republican National Committee chairman was asked what specific legislation a Republican Congress would pass following the elections.
The GOP leader argued that there will be greater political pressure on the president to approve the pipeline project because of legislative action.
For years, many Republicans and some Democrats have pushed for the Obama White House to sign off on the oil pipeline between Canada and the U.S., saying that it will stimulate domestic energy production and create jobs. Critics of the pipeline have said that the job creation will be negligible and that the pipeline would have significant cost to the environment and exacerbate climate change.
The State Department in April instituted another delay in making a decision on the project, which Republicans and advocates on both sides decried as politically motivated.
In the interview Tuesday, Priebus said he was expecting big gains later, but that he wouldn’t be pleased unless Republicans are able to win in at least one swing state. “I wouldn’t be happy unless — we’ve got to win a purple state or two, as well as taking the majority” in the Senate, he said.
Most forecasts show that Republicans are favored to win seats in the House and take control of the Senate, where Democrats in red states have struggled to distance themselves from the Obama White House.
“In a good environment with a very unpopular president, we ought to win in tough states,” Priebus added.