GOP nixes Keystone witness in tussle with State Department

House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans have yanked a key witness from Wednesday’s Keystone XL pipeline hearing after a spat with the State Department over protocol.

The committee announced Tuesday that Mike Linder, director of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, will not testify at the hearing on President Obama’s decision to reject the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline.

The hearing was slated to include testimony from Linder, along with Kerri-Ann Jones, the State Department’s Keystone point woman, and Jeffrey Wright, director of the Office of Energy Projects at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
 
Republicans nixed Linder’s testimony after the State Department requested that he testify after Jones and Wright. The department cited long-standing protocol allowing for a separate panel for administration officials.

Committee Republicans decided to cancel Linder’s testimony, citing a lack of time for a second panel. House Democrats are leaving for their annual retreat Wednesday afternoon.

Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), a member of the committee, blasted the State Department Tuesday night for raising issues about the witnesses.

“I am angry at the State Department for pushing him off the panel,” Terry said. “They know that we had limited time because of the Democrat caucus retreat.”

“The State Department didn’t want that testimony,” he continued. “They didn’t want that to be on the record and that’s why they pushed him off.”

Before Obama rejected the Keystone permit, developer TransCanada Corp. was working with Nebraska officials to find an alternative pipeline route around an environmentally sensitive region in the state.

The State Department had no intention of canceling Linder’s testimony, a spokesman for the department said.

“We asked the committee to adhere to the standard practice of having a separate panel for administration witnesses and it was the panel that then made the decision,” the spokeswoman said.