The Senate’s attempt to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline failed on Wednesday afternoon, effectively ending the measure, NBC News confirmed.
The final vote was 62-37, but the measure needed a two-thirds majority of the Senate to pass. The House cannot now consider a similar motion.
RELATED: Obama vetoes bill authorizing Keystone XL pipeline
Sixty-two senators supported the measure, including all Republicans and eight Democrats, NBC reported. Thirty-seven Democrats opposed it.
Last week, Obama fulfilled his promise by vetoing the GOP bill to approve the pipeline, stopping a key item on the Republican party’s agenda. He cited danger to the country’s safety and environment. The GOP claimed the bill would have created jobs and lowered gas prices.
Obama’s decision marked the third veto of his entire presidency. RELATED: Robert Redford to Obama: Time to kill Keystone for good The pipeline, which would bring heavy tar sands oil from Canada across the middle of the United Sates to a port on the Gulf of Mexico, became a top priority for environmentalists, who said the project would exacerbate climate change and create other pollution risks. Republican House Speaker John Boehner previously called the president’s veto a “national embarrassment.”
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