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The Obama administration has extended a key review period for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, Fox News has learned, potentially pushing off a decision until after the midterm elections.

The Obama administration once again has punted on a final decision for the Keystone XL pipeline, announcing ahead of the holiday weekend that it is extending a key review period indefinitely -- a move that could push off a determination until after the midterm elections. Republicans, as well as red-state Democrats who want the pipeline approved, slammed the administration for the delay. "It's absolutely ridiculous that this well over five year long process is continuing for an undetermined amount of time," Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.H., said in a statement.

You really have to admire the chutzpah. In her 2012 campaign, Senator Heidi Heitkamp worked long and hard to brand herself not as a liberal Democrat, but as an “independent” who would “stand up” to President Barack Obama. Such rhetoric was necessary in a state where Obama lost by more than 20 points, and Heitkamp herself won by just a few thousand votes. It’s hard to imagine Heitkamp being in the US Senate now had she not campaigned so hard against Obama. But she did, and she won, and then spent her first year in the US Senate voting with...

Those of you who are supposedly outraged or indignant over the partial government shutdown, or have friends or neighbors who are outraged or indignant, I can tell you all how YOU can fix it. All you have to do is tell pollsters who call that you think Obama and the Democrats are responsible for the shutdown. As soon as that hits the papers, the shutdown will be over before the end of the day. That is because it is Obama and the Democrats who shut down the government, because they are so certain that the Republicans will be blamed for...

Democratic leaders are wooing staunchly pro-gun candidates to run in pivotal Senate races at the same time they are discussing a strategy for bringing gun control legislation back up for debate. The two-pronged effort has prompted Republicans to accuse the Senate Democratic leadership of hypocrisy, but Democrats say it is simply smart politics. The question is whether two of the Democrats’ most promising potential candidates in Montana and South Dakota will pay a price for the leadership’s political maneuverings in Washington. Or will recruiting candidates who do not support President Obama’s gun control agenda have any effect on Democratic fundraising...

It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the far left, far right or somewhere in the middle, there is absolutely no denying the rise of the tea party has altered America’s political landscape. And the elite media is making clear, in no uncertain terms, they despise this type of change. Last week, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) voted against the Schumer-Toomey gun bill because her constituents were opposed to the bill. On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, former lawmaker Joe Scarborough and his sidekick Mika Brzezinski lit into her: MIKA: She is defending her vote saying her office was flooded with calls from constituents...

Organizing for Action (OFA) executive director Jon Carson said his group will now pour resources into opposing Senators who opposed gun control--especially Democrat Senators. This means Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Mark Begich (D-AK), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Mark Pryor (D-AR) are marked for defeat by their own party. While OFA does not engage "in electoral politics," they can go from now until the 2014 elections doing what they will to create a divide between these Senators and their constituents. Said Carson: "This is one of those moments where we have to prove that in the face of a setback we're...

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., defied the odds in November when she won the closest senate race in the country, and now that she's arrived in Washington, she's defiant as ever. But now, instead of defying the pollsters, she's defying the Democratic caucus by taking divergent opinions on issues central to the President Obama's second term agenda, ranging from gun control to the environment. Heitkamp, who says growing the economy is her top priority, is concerned that the president is changing his focus to issues like climate change and gun control. "I think, you know the one thing that has gotten...

The White House Is Planning A Major Push On Guns, And One Democratic Senator Is Already Calling It 'Extreme' Brett LoGiuratoJan. 6, 2013, 1:40 PMThe White House's task force led by Vice President Joe Biden is considering expansive proposals to tackle the nation's gun violence, something that is already drawing early condemnation from even Democratic lawmakers. The Washington Post reported Sunday that the group headed by Biden is preparing to go far beyond a simple reinstatement of the expired assault weapons ban: A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders...