WASHINGTON, Dec 31 — US President Donald Trump scrapped two bills this week, exercising his veto power for the first time during his second term to reject a water pipeline and the expansion of a Native American reservation.

Trump vetoed the bipartisan-backed bills on Monday, the White House announced on social media. Both the Senate and the House would need to pass the bills again by a two-thirds majority to override the president.

One of the bills, “Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act,” aimed to complete a decades-long plan to pipe clean water to Colorado’s Eastern Plains.

In his letter to Congress explaining the veto, Trump argued it would cost too much, and said he was “preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies.”

The pipeline was initially proposed during John F. Kennedy’s presidency in the 1960s, and the vetoed bill had received unanimous support from both houses of Congress.

It was backed by Colorado’s two Democratic Senators and by Republican Representatives Lauren Boebert and Jeff Hurd.

“This isn’t over,” Boebert posted on social media after Trump’s veto.

The former MAGA ally recently broke with Trump over the Jeffrey Epstein files.

She was one of four Republican lawmakers instrumental in forcing the Justice Department to release the remaining files on the late sex offender and wealthy financier.

Trump, who has denied any knowledge of his former friend’s crimes, spent months fighting the release before eventually relenting.

Trump had also recently vowed to take “harsh measures” against Colorado officials over an imprisoned GOP election official whom he tried to pardon.

Tina Peters was sentenced by the state in October 2024 for allowing a Trump supporter to access confidential voting information, and is not eligible for a presidential pardon.

The White House said Trump also vetoed the “Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act” on Monday.

The measure sought to extend the Miccosukee Native American Tribe’s control over a section of the Everglades National Park in Florida called Osceola Camp.

The tribe joined a lawsuit this year against an immigration detention center in the Everglades referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.” A federal judge has ordered much of the site to be dismantled, effectively shuttering the facility.

Trump said the tribe was not authorised to inhabit Osceola Camp and that his administration would not allow taxpayer money to be spent on “projects for special interests,” especially for groups “unaligned” with his immigration policies.

Presidential vetoes are rarely exercised.

During his first stint in office, Trump vetoed 10 bills. His predecessor, Joe Biden, vetoed 13 bills over his four-year term. — AFP