Washington ( CNN ) -- House Speaker John Boehner might have taken a cue from Jonathan Gruber . In a Republican press conference Tuesday on the Hill , Boehner made a jab at the President , saying that a Keystone veto would `` be equivalent to calling the American people stupid . '' `` Vetoing an overwhelmingly popular bill would be a clear indication that he does n't care about the American people 's priorities , '' he said . `` It would be equivalent to calling the American people stupid . '' Boehner was making an apparent reference to Gruber , an MIT economist , who recently drew criticism for his comments that the `` stupidity of the American voter '' was crucial to passing the President 's health care law . The House passed the bill authorizing the Keystone pipeline Friday 252-161 . Louisiana Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu , who is pushing for the bill 's passage in an effort to save her seat , said she has the 60 votes the Senate needs to pass the bill later Tuesday . If it does , the Keystone legislation would land on the president 's desk , but the White House has hinted that the president is likely to veto the bill . `` Our dim view of these kinds of proposals has not changed , '' Josh Earnest said in a press conference earlier this month . Tiane Austin contributed to this report .
The House is voting Tuesday on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline . The House passed the Keystone bill last Friday . Speaker Mary Landrieu says she has received the 60 votes needed to win passage .