The Treasury Department was planning to sit on $679 million in emergency aid that was due to go to tribal governments months ago.
WASHINGTON ― A federal judge on Monday ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to distribute $679 million in emergency COVID-19 relief funds to Native American tribes that should have gotten it months ago, and he chided the agency for causing “irreparable harm” with its delays.
The delays have stemmed largely from the Treasury Department’s incompetence in working with tribes, but a lawsuit over Alaska Native Corporations’ eligibility for funds also complicated matters. The latest problem is that Mnuchin has been withholding $679 million of tribes’ money while a separate court challenge plays out over the agency’s methodology for calculating how much money tribes get.
“The Court is absolutely correct: this administration has and continues to do ‘irreparable harm’ to Indian Country as it inexplicably holds back funds that Congress intended to get to Tribal governments urgently,” Sen. Tom Udall , vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, told HuffPost in a statement.
Rep. Deb Haaland , one of two Native American women in Congress, said it is outrageous that a court had to intervene in order for tribes to get their federal funds.
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