Trump issues first vetoes of his second term
President Donald Trump issued the first vetoes of his second term this week, rejecting two bills passed by Congress with bipartisan support.
Trump on Monday vetoed a pipeline measure and legislation that would include more land for the Miccosukee tribe in Florida, the White House announced on X.
The pipeline bill, known as the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, passed the House and Senate by voice vote, indicating overwhelming bipartisan support. The legislation aims to make it easier to complete a pipeline project to bring drinking water to southeastern Colorado.
In a letter to the House announcing the veto, Trump cited the history of the pipeline’s construction, arguing that it took too long and cost too much money.
“Enough is enough,” Trump wrote. “My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding costly and unreliable policies. Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal health is vital to the nation’s economic growth and financial health.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, responded on social media, writing: “It’s not over. »
Colorado’s two senators, both Democrats, blasted Trump on social media. Sen. Michael Bennet called Trump’s veto a “revenge trick,” and Sen. John Hickenlooper accused him of “playing partisan games and punishing Colorado by making rural communities suffer without clean water.”
Hickenlooper encouraged Congress to override the veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
The other bill that Trump vetoed, known as the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, would expand Florida’s Miccosukee Reserved Area to include a portion of Everglades National Park known as Osceola Camp. It was also passed by Congress by voice vote.
The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s veto.
In his letter explaining his veto, Trump accuses the Miccosukee Tribe of seeking “to obstruct the reasonable immigration policies that the American people decisively voted for when I was elected.”
Trump vetoed 10 bills during his first term; only one of the vetoes was overridden by Congress. The first veto came two years into his term, on a Senate joint resolution to end the national emergency he declared at the southern border.
