House Republicans vote to sustain Trump vetoes
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President Trump addresses House Republicans on Jan. 6. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
A large swath of House Republicans flipped their positions Thursday on a pair of bills, voting to sustain the first two vetoes of President Trump's second term.
Why it matters: The votes mark yet another sign of Trump's influence over the GOP House, which has largely aligned itself with him — in this case, in defiance of pleas from their own members.
- Both bills previously passed with broad bipartisan support.
- The vote was 248-177 on the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, and 236-188 on the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, with neither reaching the required two-thirds threshold.
- GOP leadership opted to not "whip" the vote, meaning they did not urge their members to vote one way or the other.
Driving the news: Trump vetoed two bipartisan measures last week — one easing payments for a long-planned water pipeline serving southeastern Colorado, and another expanding the Miccosukee Tribe's reserved land in the Florida Everglades.
- Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) voted "present" on the pipeline measure.
Zoom in: The Miccosukee Tribe has been at odds with the White House over the administration's plans to build its "Alligator Alcatraz" immigrant detention center.
- Florida lawmakers in both chambers backed the bill, which Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) said was about "fairness and conservation."
- In his veto notice, Trump accused the tribe of obstructing his immigration policies and said the bill benefitted "special interests."
The Colorado water pipeline bill, backed by the state's lawmakers, would provide drinking water to communities in southeastern Colorado.
- But Trump said the bill would "continue the failed policies of the past by forcing Federal taxpayers to bear even more of the massive costs of a local water project." He added, "Enough is enough."
What they're saying: Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) told reporters Tuesday she was frustrated with how the water pipeline legislation was presented to Trump.
- The project, which she said would not cost "billions," sits in her district.
- Boebert — one of four Republicans who defied Trump last year by signing a discharge petition to force a vote on releasing files in the Jeffrey Epstein case — said Tuesday she would be "very saddened" if the veto was retaliatory.
- "This is a bill that in policy, no one had an issue with," she told reporters after the vote. "This was purely political."
