The House of Representatives could use the power of the purse to rein in proposed new rules for recognizing Indian tribes.
Critics of changes to the Bureau of Indian Affairs proposed change in the way the federal government recognizes Indian tribes have attached a rider to the Interior Department’s budget for 2016.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee attached the rider to the spending plan. It now goes to the full committee, which could examine it for months before moving it forward.
The Bureau is one step away from official adopting the new procedures. In April it gave them to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
The National Congress of American Indians caught wind of the rider and began sending out emails alerting various tribes, who have contacted the subcommittee to try to get the offending words taken out.
The rules have actually been out for review for two years now and some tribal leaders are puzzled that it took so long for opposition to coalesce. During the last year the BIA’s director Kevin K. Washburn has worked to incorporate revision suggestions from several quarters.
The state of Connecticut is especially opposed to the rules. Its U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal has claimed that they would give “automatic” recognition to three tribes whose claims the state has opposed for many years. They include the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe.
