House Keystone vote likely next week
 House Republican leadership would like to vote next week on the Senateâs bill to jump-start construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would send it to President Barack Obamaâs desk before the Presidents Day recess, multiple senior aides say. Story Continued Below The strategy still has to be discussed with the broader House Republican Conference, and senior aides stress that no final decision has been made. But the emerging strategy is likely to give Obama his first opportunity to veto legislation from a Republican-controlled Capitol Hill â and may push his administration to reach a verdict on the pipeline itself more quickly than expected. Thereâs a chance House Republicans will want to go to a formal negotiation with the Senate to resolve the differences in their Keystone bills, but top aides worry about a prolonged negotiation. Eight federal agencies must offer their comments on the State Departmentâs review of the $8 billion Alberta-to-Texas pipeline proposal by Monday, nudging Obama ever closer to a final decision that could come as soon as this month. After other agencies weigh in on Keystone, âitâs in our hands for me to make a recommendation to send to the president, the president to make a decision at some point in the future,â Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters at a Saturday appearance in Boston with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts. The president has no binding deadline to rule on a border-crossing permit for Keystone, a top priority of Republicans and the business lobby that environmentalists have spent copious political capital opposing. The White House has vowed to veto Congressâ attempt to green-light the pipeline without Obama, writing last month that it âconflicts with longstanding executive branch procedures regarding the authority of the president.â But if House Republicans can send Keystone to Obamaâs desk by mid-month, the White House is likely to get even more pressure to define its time frame for a decision â especially since Congress is poised to push the pipeline back across the capital later this year, attached to must-pass legislation such as spending bills.