Conventional wisdom is that the new Congress won't be able to pass any of its priorities into law because Barack Obama is still president and he will veto anything the Republicans pass. And yes, he probably will. But let's not forget that the Constitution provides for a congressional override of presidential vetos. This is not easy to do. It requires a two-thirds vote of each chamber.
But it might be possible in the case of Obama's promised veto of a bill approving the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Republicans have 247 votes in the House, which means 43 Democrats would have to vote to override a veto. That would only happen if these Democrats felts a massive wave of public pressure for the federal government to get out of the way and get the pipeline built.
The Senate is even more interesting. There, the Keystone bill already has 60 co-sponsors, including all 54 Republicans and six Democrats. The Democrat co-sponsors are Joe Manchin (West Virginia), Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), Claire McClaskill (Missouri), Mark Warner (Virginia), Jon Tester (Montana) and Joe Donnelly (Indiana). Three other Democrats have indicated they will vote for the bill. They are Bob Casey Jr. (Pennsylvania), Tom Carper (Delaware) and Michael Bennet (Colorado).
That means only four more Democrats have to get on board to get a veto override in the Senate. Let's try to make that happen. Here is the contact information of the other 37 Democrat senators. Call. E-mail. Do it again. Flood their switchboards. Don't spare anyone (especially Harry Reid). Be relentless. Let's get this done:
Baldwin, Tammy - (D - WI)
717 Hart Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5653
Blumenthal, Richard - (D - CT)
724 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2823
Booker, Cory A. - (D - NJ)
141 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3224
Boxer, Barbara - (D - CA)
112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3553
Brown, Sherrod - (D - OH)
713 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2315
Cantwell, Maria - (D - WA)
311 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3441
Cardin, Benjamin L. - (D - MD)
509 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4524
Carper, Thomas R. - (D - DE)
513 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2441
#, Christopher A. - (D - DE)
127A Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5042
Durbin, Richard J. - (D - IL)
711 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2152
Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)
331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3841
Franken, Al - (D - MN)
309 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5641
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. - (D - NY)
478 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4451
Heinrich, Martin - (D - NM)
702 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5521
Heitkamp, Heidi - (D - ND)
502 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2043
Hirono, Mazie K. - (D - HI)
330 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6361
Kaine, Tim - (D - VA)
388 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4024
King, Angus S., Jr. - (I - ME)
359 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5344
Klobuchar, Amy - (D - MN)
302 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3244
Leahy, Patrick J. - (D - VT)
437 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4242
Manchin, Joe, III - (D - WV)
306 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3954
Markey, Edward J. - (D - MA)
218 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2742
McCaskill, Claire - (D - MO)
506 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6154
Menendez, Robert - (D - NJ)
528 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
Merkley, Jeff - (D - OR)
313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3753
Mikulski, Barbara A. - (D - MD)
503 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4654
Murphy, Christopher - (D - CT)
303 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4041
Murray, Patty - (D - WA)
154 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2621
Nelson, Bill - (D - FL)
716 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5274
Peters, Gary - (D - MI)
2 Russell Senate Courtyard Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6221
Reed, Jack - (D - RI)
728 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4642
Reid, Harry - (D - NV)
522 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3542
Sanders, Bernard - (I - VT)
332 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5141
Schatz, Brian - (D - HI)
722 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3934
Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY)
322 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6542
Shaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH)
520 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2841
Stabenow, Debbie - (D - MI)
133 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4822
Udall, Tom - (D - NM)
110 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6621
Warren, Elizabeth - (D - MA)
317 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4543
Whitehouse, Sheldon - (D - RI)
530 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2921
Wyden, Ron - (D - OR)
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5244