Rep. Lauren Boebert brought home the carcinogenic water. At least that’s what her district is left with after President Donald Trump vetoed a nearly unanimous congressional bill to provide the Arkansas River Valley clean water.
Trump’s officially stated reason for the veto is to stop “funding expensive and unreliable policies” and cease “massive cost of taxpayer handouts.” The project would have cost less than a half million dollars. Put another way, it costs less than half as much as the cost every time Trump goes golfing — something he did 79 times last year.
As anyone who paid attention in 2025 knows, Trump has dedicated himself to retribution during his second term. He promised it on the campaign trail and has gone to great lengths to deliver. Just ask James Comey or Letitia James. Or Trump’s own chief of staff, Susie Wiles. He has fixated on anyone who refuses to bend to his will or demonstrate uncompromising loyalty.
Enter the state of Colorado and Boebert.
Since coming to office, Trump has ordered his co-opted Department of (In)Justice to aid election denier and fellow felon Tina Peters. But unlike the roughly 1,600 violent insurrectionists Trump freed upon taking office, Peters’ crimes were not tried in federal court. She broke state laws, a state jury convicted her, and she is serving her nine-year sentence in a state prison. That leaves her outside Trump’s corrupt reach.
Trump’s impotence festered for nearly a year. It made him look even weaker and more feeble than his bruised hands covered in bad makeup. When he could no longer endure the awkward embarrassment, he simply issued a “pardon” several weeks ago, Constitution be damned. As Coloradans are keenly aware, he does not believe in checks or balances to his personal power.
On Christmas Eve, Peters predictably used the pardon in a pleading to the Colorado Court of Appeals to release her from prison. But alas, there was no Christmas miracle for Peters, and she remains in prison as 2026 starts. As she will be in 2027, 2028, 2029 and so on until she serves her full criminal sentence.
Originally, Trump vitriol manifested against Gov. Jared Polis, who took a much stronger stance against Trump’s requests after a sustained campaign to do so. Days later, Trump’s administration vowed to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research housed in Boulder. Apparently hurting Coloradans trumped helping coastal Republicans in the South who rely on NCAR to mitigate hurricane risk or flood damage.
But Trump’s ire is never actually salved.
When the water bill came up, he saw the opportunity to go after another Colorado antagonist: Boebert. While few in Congress have been as vocal or conspiratorial in their support for Trump as Boebert, she committed an apostasy by signing the discharge petition for the Epstein files.
Boebert stood up for sexual abuse survivors who were raped as underage girls and enraged Trump in the process.
Everyone understands that Epstein is Trump’s Achilles’ heel. His base clamored for release of the files for years, and he made grandiose promises to them on the campaign trail. And then he refused to follow through once in office. Not only that, but he actively worked to stop any disclosure. He burned bridges with activists and supporters, even his hand-picked FBI deputy director who eventually decided to resign less than a year into his service.
Boebert’s decision to stick to her guns, despite being browbeat in the Oval Office, must have made Trump as red-orange as a Rocky Mountain sunset. He obviously moved her onto the permanent naughty list. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise when a bill helping her district came across his desk he chose to exercise a veto.
In an odd video plea, Boebert pointed out that the affected communities overwhelmingly supported Trump. Instead she suggested he target other parts of Colorado. Since he already went after Boulder, maybe she meant Mesa County where Peters stood trial? That should come as a comfort to U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd who not only represents Mesa, but also half the counties in the water bill he sponsored. Boebert moved out of the district to avoid a primary with Hurd, yet she continues to make his life miserable.
There is also a bit of schadenfreude to be derived from Boebert’s statement. Like farmers who overwhelmingly supported Trump only to watch as his tariffs destroyed their markets, these folks wanted less government regulation and more local input. Unless they actually have to foot the bill, which is exactly what happens under Trump’s veto. Yet another example of “careful what you wish for.”
Boebert has since become less deferential in her objections. She is now calling on Congress to override Trump’s veto. While the otherwise uncontroversial bill originally secured near unanimous support, that math could change in a hurry if Trump signifies he would view such castration of his power as an irredeemable sin. After all, who wants to suffer the same fate as Boebert?
The question is how much further is she willing to go? Will Boebert go full Marjorie Taylor Greene, her longtime frenemy in Congress who spent the past six months chastising Trump, particularly over Epstein, before resigning her office? Is Boebert ready to go that far?
For Boebert and other Colorado Trump backers, even a decade of support cannot keep him from shutting off their water valve.
Mario Nicolais is an attorney and columnist who writes on law enforcement, the legal system, health care and public policy. Follow him on BlueSky: @MarioNicolais.bsky.social.
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