Rep. Lauren Boebert is openly questioning whether President Donald Trump just punished her district for political disloyalty.

The Colorado Republican blasted Trump on Tuesday night after the White House announced he had vetoed the Finish Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, a bipartisan bill designed to deliver clean drinking water to dozens of rural communities across southeastern Colorado. The legislation, which had passed both chambers of Congress, would have funded a long-term infrastructure project serving roughly 39 towns in the state’s Eastern Plains.

Trump said the veto was necessary to prevent taxpayers from “funding expensive and unreliable policies.” Boebert wasn’t convinced.

“I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability,” Boebert said in a statement to 9News. “Americans deserve leadership that puts people over politics.”

The timing has raised eyebrows. The veto came just days after Boebert joined a group of Republicans who broke with party leadership to support the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files — a move that has infuriated Trump and fractured his relationship with several longtime allies.

Boebert stopped short of directly accusing the president of retaliation but made her suspicions clear.

“Nothing says ‘America First’ like denying clean drinking water to 50,000 people in Southeast Colorado, many of whom enthusiastically voted for him in all three elections,” she said. “I must have missed the rally where he stood in Colorado and promised to personally derail critical water infrastructure projects.”

The Finish Arkansas Valley Conduit project is intended to address chronic water quality problems in the region, where groundwater is often high in salinity and, in some cases, contains naturally occurring radioactivity that can leach into household wells. Local officials have warned for years that the issue poses long-term health risks if left unresolved.

Despite Trump’s claim about cost concerns, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the legislation would cost the federal government less than $500,000 — a figure that critics say undercuts the White House’s fiscal justification.

Boebert said she would continue searching for alternative funding paths to keep the project alive, but the veto landed as one of Trump’s first since returning to office in January, making it politically symbolic as well as practical.

Democrats quickly seized on the moment. California Gov. Gavin Newsom voiced support for both the legislation and Boebert, calling Trump’s decision “a disgrace.” Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet went further, branding the veto part of Trump’s “revenge tour,” according to the Daily Beast.

The White House has not directly linked the veto to Boebert’s stance on the Epstein files, and neither has the congresswoman explicitly drawn that line. But the pattern is becoming harder for Republicans to ignore.

Trump has shown little patience for dissent within his ranks, particularly over the Epstein documents. Last month, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she would resign from Congress after clashing with the president over the same issue. Trump publicly labeled her a traitor after she joined Democrats to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Now Boebert appears to be walking a similar path — still a Republican, still aligned with much of Trump’s agenda, but openly defying him on an issue that has become a loyalty test.