Obama Keystone Veto Signals Need To Rein in Executive Branch

President Obama has officially vetoed legislation approving the Keystone XL Pipeline project. The project has waited several years for federal approval to move forward, suffering the same fate as countless other energy projects that have been obstructed by bureacratic red tape from the Executive Branch. American Encore Policy Director Patrick Hedger responded to the news with the following statement:

"President Obama’s decision to veto the Keystone XL Pipeline after filibustering its approval process for 5 years is just another example of an Executive Branch that is living well outside its constitutional limits. The priority for this Congress should immediately shift to reining in executive power and establishing protections against any future president abusing his or her powers to stifle industries to which he or she has a personal aversion."

American Encore urges Congress to pass energy permitting reform, as outlined in our Blueprint for 2015 publication which can be found here, to combat this type of senseless obstruction in the future.

***American Encore is an organization dedicated to defending freedom, promoting free markets, working to expand economic opportunity and making the case for the American ideals of liberty and democracy, both at home and abroad. For press, please contact Lisa De Pasquale at [email protected].***