GOP Congress moves veto-bait bills on health care, pipeline

WASHINGTON -- In command and ready for a fight, defiant Republicans ignored two White House veto threats and advanced bills in Congress yesterday curbing President Barack Obama's cherished health care overhaul and forcing construction on a proposed oil pipeline. The top House Democrat predicted her party would uphold both vetoes.

On the new Congress' third day of work, a Senate committee approved a measure dismantling Obama's ability to block the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which has become a flashpoint pitting the GOP's jobs agenda against Democrats' environmental concerns. The Senate planned to begin debate next week and passage there seemed likely, while the House was poised to approve its version today.

The House approved legislation narrowing the definition of full-time workers who must be offered employer-provided health care from those working 30 hours a week to a 40-hour minimum. The vote was a mostly party-line 252-172 -- short of the 290 needed, assuming all members voted, for the two-thirds majority required to override a veto.

On both bills, GOP leaders would face uphill fights mustering the two-thirds House and Senate majorities needed to override vetoes. But both measures had some support from Democrats, and Republicans could use them to portray themselves as championing bipartisan legislation.

"Given the chance to start with a burst of bipartisan productivity, the president turned his back on the American people's priorities," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters. "We were taking our oath of office when they were issuing veto threats. Come on."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats would sustain Obama's vetoes on both bills and said it was Republicans who have blocked progress.

Pelosi said Democrats would uphold a promised Obama veto on a third measure rolling back some regulations on the financial industry enacted after the 2008 economic crash. That bill fell short in the House but is expected to pass on a revote next week.

House Republicans say boosting the health care standard to 40 hours would protect those workers and named their bill the "Save American Workers Act."

"You say you care about low-income workers, about working women and small businesses?" House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) taunted Obama. "Show it and sign this bill."

Democrats say changing the full-time threshold from 30 to 40 hours would make fewer workers eligible for employer-provided health coverage and put more of them at risk of losing that coverage from companies looking to cut costs.

"I'm still trying to figure out what they're trying to save American workers from. Good health care?" said Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.), mocking the GOP's name for the bill.