A Federal Judge Rules that Grants to Tribal Governments Cannot Be Withheld
- Author: Jacob Greene
- Posted: 2023-10-31
The distribution of CARES Act funding has been rife with blunders and has been subject to political agendas. Adding to the problems has been the fact that the federal government has managed to resist all forms of oversight over how it has allocated and spent the money.
The Native American Tribes Saw No Money Until May
The CARES Act set aside $8 billion in total for grants to tribal governments. However, it was not until May that the Treasury Department even announced plans to distribute the money to the tribes. Even then, the government only agreed to release 60$ of the funding. The Treasury Department claimed that it was waiting on the results of an eligibility determination as to who was able to receive the funding. There was a question about whether Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) were eligible to receive government funding. After that issue was resolved, Mnuchin released a tranche of the funding.
At particular issue in this case was the fact that Mnuchin had set aside $679 million against the possibility of future litigation. The ANC's have filed their own lawsuits claiming that they were entitled to this money. Mnuchin decided the keep some money in reserve in case the ANC's were successful in their lawsuit.
The Treasury Secretary faced some harsh criticism for his decision. A Native American member of Congress took to Twitter to rip Mnuchin for making the tribes fight for their money. The Secretary also was called to task by the judge in the decision.
The Trump Administration Has a Long Track Record of Delaying or Refusing to Spend Money
This lawsuit was just one in a long line of court cases that have taken the Trump Administration to task for not spending money appropriated by Congress. When the legislature appropriates money, including for grant programs, the Executive Branch must spend the money in accordance with the instructions laid out by Congress. The agencies do not have the discretion to simply not spend the money.
For their part, the tribes claim that they need to get the money in their hands by the end of the fiscal year so that they can get the money out where it is needed. Once the grants are given to the tribal government, leadership must decide where they will allocate the funding. Given the large effects that COVID-19 has had on Native Americans, there is a pressing need for money on tribal lands. Many of the tribes have instituted near-complete lockdowns to try to gain control over the disease, bringing economic activity to a halt. The judge agreed, saying that continued delay in the face of a pressing health crisis was unacceptable.
The tribes already had to go to the judge once regarding the ANC issue. The judge ruled that ANC's should not receive money and directed the Treasury Department to disburse the money. However, the speed at which the federal government was giving the money to the tribes has become an issue.
However, some Native American tribes themselves have tried to file lawsuits to halt the distribution of the money. They claim that they were shortchanged and wanted to stop the rest of the money from going out until they received their fair share. However, the same judge that decided the case against the government also rules that the funding would not be held up based on this lawsuit, throwing the lawsuit out because he lacked the jurisdiction to decide something that was committed to the discretion of the Treasury Secretary.
The judge's rulings should hopefully bring the issue to a close and ensure that the balance of the money that Congress appropriated for tribal governments is actually distributed. For the tribes, they were forced to endure hardship as they waited for their money due to factors beyond their control.
