GOP lawmakers destroy bipartisan bills for Florida and Colorado and support Trump’s decision: “This veto has nothing to do with fiscal policy”
Florida – On Thursday, the House of Representatives was unable to override two vetoes from President Donald Trump. They rejected bipartisan legislation that had previously passed through Congress with minimal debate.
The unsuccessful votes were for a Colorado water infrastructure project and a law that would give the Miccosukee Tribe in Florida more federal land. Both of these had already passed by voice vote and unanimous consent.
The result showed that House Republicans were still on Trump’s side, even though some members questioned why he vetoed the bills. A vote to overturn the president’s decision to reject the Colorado water project failed 248 to 177 to 1.
Thirty-five Republicans and Democrats voted for the override, but one Republican, Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, voted present. Another attempt to overturn Trump’s veto of the Miccosukee land measure similarly failed, with 236 votes against and 188 votes for. 24 Republicans voted against it. Both initiatives needed to get two-thirds of the votes to move on to the Senate.
House Republican leaders didn’t push members to approve the overrides, which is something that happens a lot after a president vetoes anything. Because of this, MPs had to make their own choices, which led to the lack of votes needed to overturn Trump’s decisions.
The vetoes stood out because they halted legislation long considered noncontroversial. In July, both laws passed the House, and in December, they passed the Senate without any recorded opposition. People started to wonder if Trump’s actions were more about political issues than substantive issues after they turned him down.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said the vetoes had “nothing to do with fiscal policy” or the substance of the legislation.
“We all know that this veto has nothing to do with fiscal policy, nothing to do with the merits,” Huffman said.
In Colorado, observers linked the water project veto to Trump’s ongoing dispute with state officials over the prosecution of former Mesa County elections clerk Tina Peters, a Trump ally who echoed his claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, a strong supporter of Trump, pushed for the bill, but she also said that the veto may be retaliation. She alluded to her decision to sign a petition asking for the release of Justice Department data against Jeffrey Epstein, even though Trump allies were pressuring her to take back her support.
Trump defended his rejection of the Colorado bill by saying that taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for what he called “expensive and unreliable projects.” Trump said the Miccosukee Tribe in Florida was against his immigration policy because of problems with the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in the Everglades. Carlos Gimenez, a Florida congressman who supported the law, claimed it was meant to protect the tribe’s property, houses, and way of life.
Veto overrides don’t happen very often, and it’s much less typical for presidents to turn down laws that have support from both parties. During Trump’s first term, Congress only overturned one of his vetoes: the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. This shows how rare Thursday’s failed attempts were.
