Last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that a person nominated by the president to serve in a federal position can’t be appointed to that job on a temporary basis could affect an Indian casino case now before a federal appeals court.
The court ruled 6-2 against the Obama administration’s action of appointing the same person to a temporary seat on the National Labor Relations Board that it had nominated to that position. That action violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) of 1998.
This ruling strikes at the heart of the challenge to the Bureau of Indian Affair’s decision to put land purchased by the Wilton Rancheria from the Howard Hughes Corporation in Elk Grove. The tribe wants to build a $400 million casino on this property, which is located in an unfinished mall.
The BIA’s action was challenged by the California watchdog group Stand up for California, which cited the same law because the decision putting the land into trust was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Larry Roberts, who was put in that position in violation of FVRA, Stand Up claims.
In its court documents Stand Up writes, “There is no ambiguity as to the limits on Mr. Roberts authority. The ROD (record of decision) was not the final agency action.”
