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By Jordan King
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Lauren Boebert has said "This isn’t over" after President Donald Trump issued his first veto of his second term to reject a bill on a long-delayed water pipeline project in her district.
Representative Boebert, a Colorado Republican and longtime Trump supporter, has been a vocal proponent of the bipartisan bill which passed both houses of Congress unanimously.
President Trump rejected the bill that would have extended federal support for the Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC), saying the project had become an unfair burden on federal taxpayers. "Enough is enough. My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable projects," he said.
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The project is intended to deliver municipal and industrial water to communities between Pueblo and Lamar.
Newsweek has contacted Boebert’s team and the White House, via email outside of normal working hours, for comment.
Why It Matters
The congressional standoff puts a decades-long infrastructure effort and rural communities’ health in the national spotlight.
Presidential vetoes are uncommon for legislation passed unanimously in both chambers of Congress. The Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC) pipeline bill, which President Trump rejected on Tuesday, is notable for its rare bipartisan consensus and the urgent need it addresses—providing clean drinking water to 39 rural Colorado communities coping with contaminated groundwater.
The move also points to more divides in the MAGA movement which is currently experiencing major infighting over issues including the Jeffrey Epstein files and American support for Israel.
What To Know
President Trump vetoed H.R. 131, also known as the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, citing concerns about "expensive and unreliable policies" funded by taxpayers. The project, first approved by Congress in 1962, would have provided municipal and industrial water through a 130-mile pipeline to southeastern Colorado, where contaminants such as high salinity and radioactivity have plagued local water supplies.
Trump’s veto message argued that the project’s evolving cost structure, including a reduced local repayment share and extended payback period, would unfairly burden federal taxpayers. To date, more than $249 million has been spent; the total price tag could exceed $1.3 billion. The pipeline had broad political support, passing both the House and Senate unanimously by voice vote.
Local reporting by NBC affiliate 9News Denver said the pipeline would serve 39 communities where groundwater is often contaminated by high salinity and, at times, radioactivity.
Boebert spoke out against Trump’s veto in a statement shared by Denver-based 9News journalist Kyle Clark. 7
"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 in all three elections."
"I must have missed the rally where he stood in Colorado and promised to personally derail critical water infrastructure projects," Boebert said. "My bad, I thought the campaign was about lowering costs and cutting red tape."
What People Are Saying
Boebert said in her statement shared by Clark: "If this administration wants to make its legacy blocking projects that deliver water to rural Americans; that’s on them. I’m going to continue fighting for Colorado and standing up for our rural communities, our farmers, and every family that deserves safe, reliable drinking water without decades more delay. And I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability. Americans deserve leadership that puts people over politics. This is NOT the last Southeast Colorado will hear from me on this critical infrastructure project."
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, also criticized the veto, saying: "It’s very disappointing that the president is hurting rural Colorado by vetoing this bipartisan and non-controversial bill—passed unanimously by both the U.S. House and Senate—which would have delivered on the decades-long promised Arkansas Valley Conduit and secure this much-needed supply of clean water for rural southeastern Colorado."
What Happens Next
Because the bill passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, an attempt to override President Trump’s veto is possible but not yet confirmed. Congressional leaders would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to succeed—a high bar that is rarely met, but the heavy bipartisan support increases the odds for such an effort.
In the meantime, the Arkansas Valley Conduit remains stalled, and the controversy has cast further uncertainty over the timeline and future of safe drinking water for Colorado’s rural communities.
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