House falls short of overriding 2 Trump vetoes of bipartisan bills, including Colorado water project

The House on Thursday failed to override two of President Donald Trump’s vetoes of GOP-backed bills that passed unanimously in the House and Senate, falling short of the necessary two-thirds majority on either vote.

A veto override for The Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act failed by a vote of 236-188. The legislation would have expanded the Miccosukee Tribe’s reserved area in the Florida Everglades related to flood control.

Two dozen Republicans, however, voted in favor to override the veto -- a rare rebuke of their own president.

A veto override also failed for The Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act by a vote of 248-177 with 1 voting present. The legislation would have provided clean water to rural parts of Colorado and was sponsored by that state’s hardline Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert. In that vote, 35 Republicans voted to override the veto of that bill.

Both of the non-controversial measures passed the House and Senate previously with unanimous support.

The Senate would have needed a two-thirds majority to overturn the vetoes.

Trump vetoed the bills -- the first of his second term -- in late December.

"Enough is enough. My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies," Trump wrote in a veto letter sent to Congress on Dec. 30. "Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the nation."

Trump’s veto of the bipartisan bill supporting the Colorado project came amid a fractious relationship with some of the state's political leaders.

Boebert had defied the Trump administration by signing onto the Epstein discharge petition that forced a vote on a measure to compel the DOJ to release the files. The pipeline would provide water to residents of Boebert's district.

After the failed veto override vote Thursday, Boebert told reporters, "I’m obviously disappointed by the outcome of today’s vote. Promises made should be kept. My work here isn’t finished. Stay tuned."

Regarding the Florida measure, Trump said in the veto letter: "[D]espite seeking funding and special treatment from the Federal Government, the Miccosukee Tribe has actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies that the American people decisively voted for when I was elected," Trump wrote in his veto. "My Administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding projects for special interests, especially those that are unaligned with my Administration’s policy of removing violent criminal illegal aliens from the country."

The Miccosukee tribe was part of the opposition to the construction of the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" migrant detention facility in the Everglades.