WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua Finance) -- The U.S. Senate's blocking of an oil pipeline bill Tuesday night has set the stage for a slugfest when Republicans formally take control of Congress early next year.
That's because the Republican Party (GOP), which won control of the Senate in the midterm elections this month, is likely to pass the Keystone XL bill, which the White House will then likely veto, experts said.
That will lead to more bitter rivalry between GOP lawmakers and U.S. President Barack Obama, experts said.
"Keystone will become a bigger problem for Obama after Republicans add more Senators next year," Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
"The new Senate is likely to meet the 60 vote threshold required to overcome a Democratic filibuster. But it probably won't be able to overturn an expected Obama veto. That will take 67 votes and the GOP won't be able to get that kind of vote even with the new members," West said.
"So the odds are there will continue to be no Keystone pipeline and each side will blame the other for taking an extreme position and not compromising," he said.
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday failed to pass legislation approving construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which will bring Canada's oil sands to refineries in the United States.
The 7-billion-U.S. dollar project is proposed to go from Canada through the U.S. states of Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Proponents say the bill would create much-needed jobs throughout the supply chain that would help boost job creation at a time when the United States is crawling back from the worst recession in decades and millions remain jobless. Opponents say the pipeline will damage the environment.
Aside from the pipeline issue, Congress and the White House are expected to come out swinging on a number of hot-button issues after midterm elections this month shifted Congressional control to the GOP.
The elections saw one of the strongest GOP sweeps since World War II and was largely a reflection of voters' rejection of Obama's policies, which critics contend have not helped the sluggish U.S. economy and high jobless rate.
Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua there are some issues the two parties will be able to work on together before the new Congress is seated, but it seems now they will continue fighting until January.
The question is whether they are more interested in getting work done or in playing political games, he said, adding that the two parties are feeling each other out like two boxers circling the ring in the first round.
Concerned about his legacy, Obama is fighting to avoid lame duck status after his party received a solid shellacking.
The elections came amid plunging popularity for the president after the White House faced myriad scandals in the past couple of years, from the Justice Department's snooping on journalists to the administration's refusal to address unanswered questions over the 2012 attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, including a U.S. ambassador.
Still, the GOP victory should not be read as an endorsement of Republicans, experts said. Indeed, the GOP has a long road ahead as it attempts to turn itself from a party perceived as being run by old, white men into one more in tune with a modern, multicultural America.
Moreover, Congress' approval rate has been for a couple of years lower than at any time in the last several decades, and that includes Republicans.
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