Policy and Law
- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday night ending a 43-day government shutdown that disrupted federal programs across Indian Country, including food assistance, housing and tribal lending operations.
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
On Wednesday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in State of Minnesota v. Todd Jeremy Thompson, a case that could affect how a longstanding public law applies to cannabis in Indian Country.
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
As the federal government grinds through another shutdown, the effects are being felt unevenly across the country. For most Americans, the pain is abstract — delayed permits, closed National Parks and bureaucratic bottlenecks. For tribal nations, it’s existential.
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
A prolonged federal shutdown and deep staff cuts are hollowing out essential Indian Country programs and breaking the government’s trust obligations, leaders told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Wednesday.
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
A federal judge has ruled against three members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation who sought recognition of aboriginal fishing rights in Shinnecock Bay, holding that New York’s conservation regulations on American eel are “valid, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory.”
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined for a second time to hear a case brought by Apache Stronghold seeking to block a land transfer that would allow copper mining at Oak Flat, a site in Arizona considered sacred by Apache people.
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear RunItOneTime LLC v. United States, ending a challenge to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and preserving the state of Washington’s tribal gaming compacts.
- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
Jessica Engle, former chief executive officer of the Yurok Telecommunications Corporation, pleaded guilty Sept. 4 to embezzling $579,574 from the Yurok Tribe while leading the tribal broadband subsidiary.
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
The Federal Emergency Management Agency seeks to hear from tribes about potential changes to the agency as the Trump administration backs away from earlier plans to eliminate FEMA entirely.
- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
- Type: Default
- Paywall Status: Protected
- Reader Survey Question: No Question
Appropriations committees in both the House and Senate have rejected the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to Native housing programs for fiscal 2026. However, bureaucratic congestion and administrative uncertainty could still hamper tribal housing authorities that don't plan ahead, Native housing advocates say.