Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) suggested President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill to make building a water pipeline in Colorado easier as “political retaliation” for forcing a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Trump vetoed the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, which was sponsored by Boebert, Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO), and Colorado’s two Democratic senators. It would complete a decadeslong plan for a water pipeline to serve nearly 50,000 people in Boebert and Hurd’s districts in southeast Colorado.
The president said in a letter Monday alerting Congress to his veto, he did so as part of a push to curtail “taxpayer handouts,” pointing to the large sum needed to complete the project. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation estimated in 2023 that it would cost about $1.4 billion, double what it was estimated seven years ago.
But Boebert, one of four House Republicans to join Democrats on a discharge petition to force a vote to release the Epstein files, said the veto may have been politically motivated.
“I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability,” Boebert said in a statement to 9News Denver reporter Kyle Clark. “Americans deserve leadership that puts people over politics.”
Trump has long called the controversy surrounding the Epstein files a “hoax,” and the White House lobbied the GOP lawmakers to remove their names from the petition, which failed. He ultimately gave Republicans the green light to vote for the bill, which passed the House almost unanimously.
Boebert blasted the president for going against his “America First” agenda promises, stating her bill passed Congress unanimously and is “completely non-controversial.”
“Because nothing says ‘America First’ like denying clean drinking water to 50,000 people in Southeast Colorado, many of whom enthusiastically voted for him in all three elections,” the congresswoman said. “I must have missed the rally where he stood in Colorado and promised to personally derail critical infrastructure projects.”
She continued: “My bad, I thought the campaign was about lowering costs and cutting red tape. But hey, if this administration wants to make its legacy blocking projects that deliver water to rural Americans; that’s on them.”
Boebert is the second House Republican who signed the Epstein petition to have a disagreement with the president. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a once-staunch supporter of Trump, has since fallen out of favor with the president after she vocally pressed the Epstein files issue and called out several of his policies.
In November, Trump said he would no longer support Greene in her reelection bid, calling her “wacky,” a “ranting Lunatic,” and a “traitor” to the GOP. He accused her of going “Far Left” after the Georgia congresswoman found herself backing accusations against the president’s agenda that Democrats have long been spouting.
HERE’S WHERE HOUSE RETIREMENTS STAND AS CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT ON 2025
Greene is no longer running for reelection in 2026 and will resign from Congress on Jan. 5.
Boebert has received an endorsement from Trump. But, given the precedent set with Greene, eyes will be on the president to see whether he pulls his endorsement from the Colorado conservative as well.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment.
The veto on Monday was one of the first two since Trump started his second term. He also vetoed the bipartisan Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, which would have added a small village called the Osceola Camp to the section of the Florida Everglades controlled by the Miccosukee Native American tribe.
Trump accused the bill of benefiting “special interests” and accused the tribe of not complying with his immigration policies.