Tribes Face Uncertainty as the Trump Administration Freezes Federal Funding

 

As you know, on Monday, January 27, 2025, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued a memorandum (M-25-13) directing federal departments and agencies to temporarily freeze the obligation or disbursement of federal financial assistance. The memo also directed the agencies to submit detailed information about programs, projects, or activities subject to the pause to OMB by February 10, 2025, so that the Administration could review agency programs and “determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.”

OMB subsequently provided instructions on the information that agencies are required to provide to OMB, which included a list of more than 2600 programs. An estimated 400+ seem to directly relate to Tribal Nations, but there could be dozens if not hundreds, more that might affect Indian Country.

As has been widely reported in the media, Tuesday, January 28 brought widespread concern and confusion about the implications of the funding freeze and multiple lawsuits which led to at least one federal court ordering a stay of the funding freeze until Monday, February 3 at 5pm. We have also heard of issues with accessing the online portal, Payment Management Services (PMS), to submit requests for the drawdown of federal grant funds.

On Wednesday, January 29, OMB issued another memorandum (M-25-14) which rescinded the January 27th funding freeze memorandum issued on Monday. It is our understanding that access issues to PMS have largely been resolved. If you continue to have access issues, please contact PMS’s technical support.

While the immediate concern seems to have been alleviated, we are still closely monitoring the situation. Importantly, President Trump has signed a number of Executive Orders, which themselves call for an end to certain federal funding:

  • Protecting the American People Against Invasion
  • Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid
  • Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements
  • Unleashing American Energy
  • Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
  • Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
  • Enforcing the Hyde Amendment

As part of our monitoring of this situation, we are in conversation with lawyers throughout Indian Country so that we can share information and collaborate on messaging to present a strong, united message. One such effort we discussed was the development of education materials for the Administration, explaining the unique status of Tribal Nations and the illegality of cessation of certain funding.

At this time, we recommend:

  • Document and/or report any programs, services or activities that are negatively impacted by the above-listed Executive Orders or any freeze in federal funding.
    • The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has requested that any issues with accessing federal funds be reported to oversight@indian.senate.gov.
  • Engage with contacts within Congress and the Administration. Remind your representatives and, where needed, educate new officials about your status as a sovereign nation and the obligations the United States has to you through its trust responsibility.
    • We are mindful that some, if not most, of the officials joining the Administration have little or no experience or knowledge about Indian tribes and the United States’ trust responsibility to them. While these actions are inexcusable, even if they are due to ignorance, education can go a long way.

Please let us know if we can help in any way. And of course, please feel free to reach out with any questions.