A bitter fight has broken out between Donald Trump and one of his most loyal supporters in Congress, after Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert accused the president of using his veto power to get revenge for her role in exposing the Epstein files.
The dispute erupted after Trump rejected a bill designed to help dozens of rural towns in south-eastern Colorado secure safe drinking water, a project Boebert had championed for years and which had sailed through Congress without a single vote against it.
Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert has publicly criticised President Donald Trump after he vetoed a water infrastructure bill in her district. (Source: ABC News)
Instead of celebrating bipartisan cooperation, the White House shut it down.
And Boebert is not buying the explanation.
“This feels political,” she said, openly suggesting the veto may be payback for her refusal to back down when she demanded the release of government files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A loyal ally turns into a critic
Boebert has spent much of her political career defending Trump through scandals, impeachments, and court battles. But that loyalty fractured when she joined a small group of Republicans who crossed party lines to force the release of Epstein-related documents.
That move infuriated Trump, who had spent months resisting pressure to open the files. While he eventually gave in, the rebellion exposed rare cracks inside the MAGA movement.
Trump vetoed Boebert’s bipartisan water bill, citing cost concerns, sparking accusations of political retaliation. (Source: Vox)
Now those cracks are widening.
When Trump vetoed Boebert’s water bill, she went public, accusing him of abandoning the very voters who helped elect him.
“People in my district just want clean water,” she said. “They’re not asking for favours. They’re asking for something basic.”
The bill would have helped nearly 40 communities that rely on groundwater contaminated by salt and naturally occurring radioactive material, which is unsafe to drink without treatment.
Why the water bill mattered
The project, known as the Arkansas Valley Conduit, has been in development for decades. It was meant to connect rural towns to a safer water supply using a large pipeline network.
Boebert’s legislation did not create new spending. Instead, it adjusted how communities repay existing federal loans, giving them breathing room so they could afford the infrastructure without going bankrupt.
Lawmakers from both parties supported it. So did Republican leaders. Nobody opposed it.
Yet Trump vetoed it anyway.
In his veto statement, the president argued that federal taxpayers should not be forced to fund local infrastructure and that the bill represented the kind of spending he was elected to stop.
To Boebert, that explanation rings hollow.
“These are the same families who voted for him three times,” she said. “Now they’re being told their drinking water doesn’t matter.”
Epstein files still haunting the White House
The timing of the veto has only fuelled suspicion.
Boebert was one of four Republican lawmakers who joined Democrats in using a rare procedural move to force the Epstein files out of the Justice Department. Trump’s team tried to stop it, even calling Boebert into a meeting at the White House.
She refused to change her vote.
Shortly afterward, Trump launched a public attack on another lawmaker involved in the revolt, Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling her a traitor. Greene later announced she would leave Congress.
Boebert wasn’t publicly targeted, but the veto has changed the tone.
“I really hope this wasn’t retaliation,” she said. “But it sure looks like it.”
A second veto raises more doubts
Trump didn’t stop with Colorado.
On the same day, he also killed a bill in Florida that would have protected land belonging to the Miccosukee Tribe inside Everglades National Park. The tribe has been fighting a Trump-backed immigration detention centre built in the area.
In that case, Trump made no attempt to hide his anger, accusing the tribe of opposing his immigration agenda.
To critics in Washington, the message was clear: Disagree with Trump, and your projects die.
Can Congress fight back?
Both vetoed bills had overwhelming bipartisan support. In theory, Congress could override Trump with a two-thirds vote.
In reality, that is unlikely.
Many Republican lawmakers rely on Trump’s support to survive their next election. Few are willing to risk his wrath, even when local communities are affected.
For now, Boebert appears to be standing her ground.
“This isn’t over,” she wrote after the veto was announced.
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A warning sign for MAGA
What began as a fight over Epstein files has now spilled into real-world consequences, including clean water, tribal land, and federal investment in rural America.
For Trump, the vetoes send a message of strength.
For Boebert, they send a warning.
The question now is whether this is just one angry ally speaking out, or the beginning of a larger split inside the movement that once prided itself on absolute loyalty.
One thing is clear: in Trump’s second term, even his closest friends are no longer safe when they step out of line.
