Trump Uses First Vetoes of Second Term to Block Water Pipeline and Native American Reservation Expansion

US President Donald Trump has exercised his veto power for the first time in his second term, rejecting two bills this week—a water pipeline project and an expansion of a Native American reservation.

The White House announced on Monday that Trump vetoed the bipartisan-backed measures, noting that Congress would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override his decision.

One of the bills, the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, aimed to complete a decades-long initiative to deliver clean water to Colorado’s Eastern Plains. In his veto letter, Trump argued that the project would be too costly and would force American taxpayers to fund “expensive and unreliable policies.” The pipeline plan dates back to President John F. Kennedy’s administration in the 1960s and had previously received unanimous support in both houses of Congress. Colorado Democrats and Republican Representatives Lauren Boebert and Jeff Hurd had endorsed the bill. Boebert responded on social media, stating, “This isn’t over.”

Trump also vetoed the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, which sought to extend the Miccosukee Tribe’s control over Osceola Camp in Florida’s Everglades National Park. The tribe had joined a lawsuit earlier this year against an immigration detention center nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” which a federal judge has ordered to be largely dismantled. Trump argued the tribe was not authorized to inhabit the site and stated that taxpayer funds should not be used for “projects for special interests,” particularly groups not aligned with his immigration policies.

Presidential vetoes are infrequently used. During his first term, Trump vetoed 10 bills, while his predecessor Joe Biden vetoed 13 bills over four years.

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