Reporter’s Notebook: House attempts to override Trump vetoes on Colorado water project, Florida Everglades

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The House will try Thursday to override President Donald Trump on two bills he vetoed recently. 

One is the “Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act,” which provides water to southeastern Colorado. The other is the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act. It hands over a portion of the Florida Everglades to the tribe.

Both bills passed the House and Senate unanimously.

The president criticized Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis as a “bad” governor when explaining his reasons for vetoing that bill. The president caught criticism from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., whose district would benefit from the water project.

Donald Trump

The House will try Thursday to override President Trump on two bills he vetoed recently. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump and Boebert have been at loggerheads since she was one of the most outspoken voices pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The House will debate and vote on overriding the Colorado water project Thursday. We only expect debate on the Florida issue on Thursday.

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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., leaves the U.S. Capitol

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on Feb. 15, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

It takes a two-thirds vote of those casting ballots to override a veto. The House currently has 431 members. So if every member votes, it takes 288 yeas to override. So you don’t know the magic number until the vote is closed, because it’s contingent on the total number of members casting ballots.

There is a good chance that the House could override the president’s veto – considering the fact that the House approved the bill unanimously.

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Aerial view florida everglades green marshland blue winding river

An aerial view of the Florida Everglades.  (Getty Images)

These two vetoes are the first ones of Trump’s second term.

The president vetoed 10 bills during his first term. Eight veto overrides failed. Lawmakers never attempted the override on one of them. But Congress overrode the veto of the annual defense policy bill in late 2020 and early 2021.

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President Donald Trump gestures while speaking

President Donald Trump speaks during a breakfast with Senate and House Republicans in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Nov. 5, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP Newsroom)

Successful veto overrides are rare. There have only been 112 veto overrides in the history of the republic. That’s out of 1,531 “regular” presidential vetoes. So that’s about 4%.

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Here’s another footnote:

The Senate also votes Thursday to rebuke the president over war powers and U.S. action in Venezuela. A similar measure came close to passing in the fall, before the recent operation in Venezuela. It’s unclear whether the war powers resolution will pass.

However, if the House overrides the president’s veto on the Colorado water bill, and the Senate votes in favor of the war powers resolution, that would mark two rare rebukes by the Republican president in one day.