President Trump blocks two bipartisan bills, citing cost and policy alignment, marking his first vetoes of a second term.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has exercised his veto power for the first time in his second term, rejecting two bipartisan-backed bills.
The White House announced the vetoes on Monday, blocking legislation concerning a water pipeline in Colorado and the expansion of a Native American reservation in Florida.
One vetoed bill, the “Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act,” aimed to complete a decades-long plan to pipe clean water to Colorado’s Eastern Plains.
In his veto letter, Trump argued the project would cost too much, stating he was “preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies.”
The pipeline project was first proposed during the 1960s and had received unanimous support from both houses of Congress.
Republican Representative Lauren Boebert, who backed the bill, vowed “This isn’t over” in a social media post following the veto.
Trump also vetoed the “Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act,” which sought to extend a tribe’s control over a section of Florida’s Everglades National Park.
He stated the Miccosukee Tribe was not authorised to inhabit the area and would not allow taxpayer money for projects by groups “unaligned” with his immigration policies.
The tribe is currently involved in a lawsuit against an immigration detention centre in the Everglades, which a judge has ordered to be largely dismantled.
To override the vetoes, both the Senate and the House would need to pass the bills again by a two-thirds majority.
During his first term, Trump vetoed 10 bills, while his predecessor Joe Biden vetoed 13 over a four-year term.
