Obama's Veto Key to Democrats' Strategy With GOP Congress

As the first week of the new Congress comes to an end, President Barack Obama has already issued three veto threats in what looks to be the Democrats' strategy for exerting their power in the Capitol now controlled by Republicans, according to The Washington Times.

Obama on Tuesday threatened to veto legislation to approve the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline just hours after the legislation was introduced to the Senate; the first initiative of the new GOP majority.

The president also vowed to veto a bill that passed the House on Thursday which would repeal Obamacare's 30-hour work week definition, redefining it to 40 hours. A two-year delay to the Dodd-Frank financial reform regulations on bank investments is also slated for a veto.

"Our leverage in the discussions springs from the fact that we have a Democrat in the White House where President Obama is signing or not signing a bill, and our upholding his veto strengthens the hand of the minority in a debate of this kind," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, according to the Times.

House Speaker John Boehner suggested that the president's veto threats have already poisoned the atmosphere on Capitol Hill.

"At a minimum, he could have waited a few hours. Maybe he could have waited a few days," Boehner said, according to the Times. "We were taking our oath of office when they were issuing veto threats. Come on."

Meanwhile, Democrats did not hesitate to employ the procedural tactics they long criticized the GOP for, issuing a filibuster on the third day of the new Congress, the fastest filibuster on record, according to the Times.

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