Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) was among a handful of Republicans who voted to have the Jeffrey Epstein files released.
In the last month, she has seen an emergency funding request for wildfire and flood damage rejected by the Trump administration, and now legislation she sponsored for a clean water project has also been rejected.
Boebert believes that the defeats amount to acts of revenge by Donald Trump for her support of the push to bring the Epstein materials to light.
Just before Christmas, a disaster declaration request was made by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, hoping to get some federal funding for rampant wildfires and flooding that had devastated parts of his state earlier in the year. This was not anything remotely close to what happened in California at the start of the year, as lightning strikes started the Colorado fires, and storms ravaged the area, creating destructive flooding and damaging mudslides.
The state's own emergency funding was tapped to provide relief, but it only covered about 65% of the expected damages.
State Democrats ripped the Trump administration for politicizing the aid, and the White House responded, “There is no politicization to the President's decisions on disaster relief, unlike under the Biden Administration where FEMA officials refused aid to disaster survivors who displayed political signs and flags they disagreed with.”
The statement continued, “The Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with State and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged."
Boebert recently introduced the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, which serves as an extension of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which was passed in 1962.
The project involves the construction of a water pipeline to provide clean water to Colorado, but due to financing issues, the project never launched until 2009, when an amendment was added to the original legislation that called for the federal government to absorb 65% of the cost, with the remainder covered by the state. It also called for a 50-year repayment plan.
Ground broke on the project in April 2023, but once again, financing challenges remain, which Boebert’s legislation addressed, including an extension of the repayment period to 100 years.
The bill passed through the House and Senate unanimously, but Trump just vetoed the bill, and Boebert thinks that the reason for that is personal.
The administration claimed that the project has already cost $249 million, and overall outlays are likely to total roughly $1.3 billion, adding, "H.R. 131 would continue the failed policies of the past by forcing Federal taxpayers to bear even more of the massive costs of a local water project — a local water project that, as initially conceived, was supposed to be paid for by the localities using it."
Boebert replied, "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. But hey, if this administration wants to make its legacy blocking water projects that deliver water to rural Americans; that’s on them.”
There is no way to sugarcoat the situation in terms of how it makes Trump look. Whether it is revenge or not, it looks that way, and that is how it will be played up in the media. And you had better believe that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) will be firing off posts about how much money Trump is sending overseas while refusing to give taxpayers in Colorado $1 billion for clean drinking water.
If Congress wants to, it has the votes to override this veto, as the bill passed unanimously. The problem then becomes one of who will have the guts to stand up to Trump and risk his wrath for overriding the veto? Do you really think Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will put that on the floor? Will Senate Majority Leader Thune (R-SD) do it?
They should, but my guess is it will not happen. So, again, Trump is shooting himself in the foot because had he signed this legislation, it might have gained him some favor with some blue state voters. I think this veto was a mistake, and a big one at that.
