Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is scrambling for fellow Democrats to support legislation approving the Keystone XL Pipeline before a critical runoff election.
The White House says President Barack Obama takes a dim view of the bill but has not directly threatened a veto.
Even so, Senate Democratic officials said the party's leadership agreed to give Landrieu room to try and pass the measure only after making sure Obama would not sign it.
The maneuvering took place yesterday as House Republicans readied a vote today on their own identical pipeline bill — advanced by Congressman Bill Cassidy, who is Landrieu's rival in the December 6th runoff.