Key Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump has vetoed a bill that would have provided funding to complete a pipeline to carry clean water to communities in southeastern Colorado.
- Trump has also denied disaster funding to help northwestern and southwestern Colorado recover from wildfires and flooding.
- The decisions come as Trump intensifies his war against Colorado over the state’s refusal to release Tina Peters from prison.
- Prominent Colorado Republicans, including Rep. Lauren Boebert, are speaking out against Trump’s actions.
- The affected communities in southeastern Colorado overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2024.
Introduction to the Conflict
President Donald Trump is taking aim at new areas of Colorado, specifically those that overwhelmingly voted for him in 2024. This week, Trump vetoed a bill that would have provided funding to complete a pipeline to carry clean water to communities in southeastern Colorado. Last week, he denied disaster funding to help northwestern Colorado recover from wildfires and southwestern Colorado recover from flooding. These decisions come as Trump intensifies his war against Colorado over the state’s refusal to release Tina Peters from prison. Peters, the former clerk in Mesa County, is serving a nine-year state prison sentence for orchestrating a breach of her county’s election system as part of a failed attempt to uncover voter fraud.
The Vetoed Bill
The vetoed bill, known as the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, would have shifted more of the cost of completing the Arkansas Valley Conduit onto the federal government and away from the communities in southeastern Colorado. The conduit is a 130-mile pipeline that is supposed to carry clean water for municipal and industrial uses to communities that struggle to provide water to residents and businesses due to naturally occurring salinity or radionuclide contamination in their groundwater. The counties served by the conduit, including Pueblo, Otero, Crowley, Kiowa, Bent, and Prowers, all voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2024. Trump complained about shifting the cost burden onto the federal taxpayer, but Rep. Lauren Boebert, who sponsored the bill, argued that the project is vital for the communities and that Trump’s veto is hurting his own supporters.
Denial of Disaster Funding
In addition to vetoing the bill, Trump also denied disaster funding requested by northwestern and southwestern Colorado in response to the Elk and Lee fires, which damaged crucial electric lines, and record-breaking flooding, which damaged or destroyed drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. The White House cited fiscal responsibility in denying Colorado’s disaster claims, but Rep. Jeff Hurd rejected that argument, stating that western Colorado has long supported the president and that the support comes from communities now facing the real human and economic consequences of recent disasters. Hurd’s district includes areas that would have benefited from the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, and he argued that the vetoed legislation did not authorize new construction spending or expand the federal government’s original commitment.
Republican Backlash
Prominent Colorado Republicans, including Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Jeff Hurd, are speaking out against Trump’s actions. Boebert, who has been a loyal supporter of Trump, said that she thinks it is sometimes right for the Trump administration to retaliate against Colorado for its policies, but not against communities that have overwhelmingly voted for Trump. She urged Congress to override the veto and stated that "nothing says ‘America First’ like denying clean drinking water to 50,000 people in southeast Colorado, many of whom enthusiastically voted for him in all three elections." Hurd also rejected Trump’s argument, stating that the vetoed legislation did not authorize new construction spending or expand the federal government’s original commitment, but rather adjusted repayment terms to reflect decades of federal delay, rising construction costs, and changing regulatory requirements.
Escalating Tensions
The latest actions by the Trump administration have Republican leaders like Boebert and Hurd fuming. Trump’s veto of the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act and decision to deny disaster funding requested by northwestern and southwestern Colorado are not the first time his actions have hurt Republican areas during his second term. In September, he relocated U.S. Space Command headquarters to Alabama from Colorado Springs, a GOP stronghold, citing Colorado’s use of mail-in ballots. However, the latest actions have been met with more resistance from Republican leaders, who are starting to speak out against Trump’s actions. As the conflict escalates, it remains to be seen how the situation will unfold and what the consequences will be for the communities affected by Trump’s decisions.