Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) expressed outrage after President Trump vetoed a bill that would have funded a drinking water project in her district. “The Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC) is a water pipeline currently being built to provide municipal and industrial water to communities in southeastern Colorado. It was originally authorized as part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project in a bill signed by President Kennedy in 1962. For decades it was unbuilt, largely because the AVC was economically unviable. Under the original plan, the costs of the project were to be initially funded by the Federal Government, but repaid by local users, with interest, over a 50-year period following completion of construction. But participants were unable to comply with that repayment obligation,” Trump said in a statement addressed to the House of Representatives. “My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies. Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the Nation,” it continued. BREAKING: Trump vetoes Boebert's bill on the Arkansas Valley Conduit, saying "my administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies." The AVC is critical to bringing fresh water to Eastern Colorado. pic.twitter.com/s5dYzXjgtC — Jeff Hunt (@jeffhunt) December 31, 2025 “This isn’t over,” Boebert commented. This isn’t over. https://t.co/SxRacLX8fp — Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 31, 2025 The Guardian has more: Boebert criticized the move, calling the bill “completely non-controversial” and pointed out that it passed the House and Senate unanimously earlier this year. Trump’s veto comes after Boebert had pushed the administration to release the government’s files on the late convicted sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein. Boebert, a longtime Maga ally and supporter of the president, said in a statement to a local news station: “I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability.” Trump also vetoed a second bill on Tuesday for a project in Florida. The measure aimed to spend $14m to protect an area known as Osceola Camp within Everglades national park that is inhabited by members of the Miccosukee Tribe of Native Americans. The tribe has fought Trump’s makeshift immigrant detention center “Alligator Alcatraz”. A federal judge has now ordered the detention center to be shut down. Trump said the tribe was never authorized to inhabit the Osceola Camp area, and that his administration would not support projects for special interests, especially those “unaligned” with his immigration policies. Trump’s vetoes were the first two of his second term. The veto of the Colorado bill came after Trump’s vow to retaliate against Colorado for keeping his ally Tina Peters in prison, despite his attempt to pardon her earlier in the month. “President Trump decided to veto a completely non-controversial, bipartisan bill that passed both the House and Senate unanimously. Why? Because nothing says ‘America First’ like denying clean drinking water to 50,000 people in Southeast Colorado, many of whom enthusiastically voted for him all three elections,” Boebert said in a statement shared by journalist Kyle Clark. “I must have missed the rally where he stood in Colorado and promised to personally derail critical water infrastructure projects. My bad, I thought the campaign was about lowering costs and cutting red tape,” the Colorado Republican continued. “But hey, if this administration wants to make its legacy blocking water projects that deliver water to rural Americans; that’s on them,” she added. The pipeline project is in GOP Rep Lauren Boebert's district. Boebert recently challenged Trump to force the release of the Epstein files. Boebert has issued a blistering statement reading, in part, "I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retribution." pic.twitter.com/cWjOg9RkFd — Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) December 31, 2025 Fox News shared further: Boebert’s break with the Trump veto marks another notable schism between Trump and some of his most loyal allies in the House of Representatives. Her comments over the veto follow Marjorie Taylor Green’s criticisms of President Trump and what Greene sees as a departure from the campaign promises that were made on the road to the 2024 presidential election. Greene, formerly one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, has made plans to leave Congress early, citing disagreements with the trajectory of the party. She will resign on Jan. 5, 2026.