Amelia Schafer
ICT
The United States is 21 days into the third-longest federal government shutdown in history and Indian Country is bracing for an unstable future ahead as reserve funding for many tribes could begin to dry up.
“Folks that had rainy day funds set aside for this, they’re going to see problems,” said Michael Stopp, Cherokee and Muscogee and the president and chief executive officer of Seven Star Holdings. “We saw in the beginning of the shutdown that many tribes had learned from 2018 and made some adjustments in their budgets, but now we’re going into one of the longest shutdowns in history, and unless the Senate makes a significant change today or tomorrow, you’re going to start seeing heavier impacts.”
On Oct. 20, the U.S. Senate failed for an 11th time to advance a House-passed measure and end the shutdown. The bill has continuously fallen short of the 60 needed votes needed to advance.
“It feels as if there’s this lack of urgency to get a spending bill done,” said Holly Cook Macarro, Red Lake Ojibwe and a tribal advocate and political strategist. Cook Macarro is also a Democratic pundit. “To me, it lacks some of the urgency that we’ve seen in past shutdowns.”
The shutdown began on Oct. 1 as a result of a failure between Republicans and Democrats to agree on passing a new funding bill. Both chambers of the U.S. Congress are controlled by Republicans, but the Senate is short of the 60 votes needed to pass the 2026 spending bill.
Democrats are refusing to pass the Republican-introduced bill unless it restored cuts to Medicaid made in President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” and also requested a permanent extension of subsidies for people who use the Affordable Care Act, informally referred to as “Obamacare.” Congressional Democrats also opposed proposed cuts to spending for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institute of Health.
Right now, tribes are looking at their budget and determining what funding is available and if they can access it, said OJ Semans executive director of the Coalition of Large Tribes, an advocacy group for large land-based tribal nations that exceed 100,000 acres.
“(They’re looking at) what funding they might have to take from underfunded programs in order to provide food for tribal members, if we don’t end this before November 1,” Semans, who is Sicangu Lakota, said.
The last shutdown from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019 was the longest in history at a total of 25 days. If an agreement isn’t made by Nov. 5, the current shutdown will match that record.
Last week there were real discussions between Senate leaders, Stopp said. Two quick votes could be taken to end the shutdown, one for a clean continuing resolution and one to continue the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of 2025.
“We do know that the new rates are going to be published at the beginning of November, which is really going to hit some elected leaders because they’re going to hear from the constituents,” Stopp said. “It’s going to be hard. It’s a hard pill to swallow for either party and so, and I think a lot of members recognize that, especially the senators, and we’re going to see some kind of movement on that in the next week or two.”
The only thing the Senate can do to act immediately is vote to approve a cleaned continuing resolution. After its approval, President Trump will need to approve the resolution to get money flowing back into the government and end the shutdown.
“It’s going to be tough, and it’s going to get tougher,” Semans said. “Take care of the poor first. I mean, don’t try to win a battle on their backs, our stomachs. I should say.”
Shutdown continues to violate treaty obligations
“You can’t get anybody on the phone, you can’t get anybody to answer an email, and we have issues that need to be addressed,” said Peter Lengkeek, chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in central South Dakota.
Lengkeek said recently he’s been inundated with calls from non-Native cattle ranchers who lease tribal land. During the shutdown, these non-Native farmers have been unable to pay for their leases, and are concerned that they’ll face late-payment penalties.
“No where in our treaties does it state that communications and resources stop when the government shuts down,” Lengkeek said. “I have yet to find that clause.”
Without a continuing resolution, tribes will continue to suffer, Semans said. Right now a major concern is the potential of a block on funding to the funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program if a continuing resolution isn’t passed by Nov. 1.
“We find it disheartening that the basis for senators to oppose the (continuing resolution), is because they want to see extensions of pandemic tax credits for premiums under the Affordable Care Act, but in doing so, it is precisely the populations they seek to protect that will suffer the most,” Semans said in a letter to In a letter to Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat, shared with ICT.
SNAP provides food to 24 percent of all American Indian and Alaska Native households, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On top of that, the USDA funds the Food Distribution on Indian Reservations Program commonly called “commodities.”
Aside from SNAP funding, Head Start, WIC and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, funding is at risk if the shutdown doesn’t end soon.
“We continue to monitor these operations,” said Chuck Hoskin Jr., Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. “Thankfully, our health system is forward funded to carry us through to serve our citizens’ health needs in the coming weeks.”
As government funding halts, tribes, especially large land-based tribes, are going to have to start laying off employees, Semans said.
“This shouldn’t be on the shoulders of tribes who basically gave up everything already and now are going to be the ones to suffer the most,” Semans said.
Since the start of the shutdown, some tribes like the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in central South Dakota have been unable to issue new tribal ID cards or Certificate Degree of Indian Blood cards, said Chairman Boyd Gourneau.
“As a tribe we are taking other measures and have contingency plans in place should these weeks turn into months,” Hoskins said. “While we stand ready to do our part, implementing such plans comes at a real cost to the Cherokee Nation, one that should never fall on tribes fulfilling the federal government’s Treaty and Trust responsibilities.”
For the first time, Indian Health Service continued to operate like normal during the shutdown with advanced appropriations allowing the health service to weather the shutdown.
Stopp said that’s something important to recognize and work towards obtaining for all programs servicing Indian Country.
“I’d like (tribal leaders) to see how effective the advanced appropriations have been for IHS,” Stopp said. “We should start looking to have those same advanced appropriations for any 638 contracts between the federal government and a tribe like we have with the IHS. I think that’s an easier lift than to say all tribal programs should have advanced appropriations.”
For many the pueblos and tribes in New Mexico, leaders initially expressed concern regarding funding delay, but so far have fared well, said Josett Monette, Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Indian Department and a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
“We are keeping conversations open so that we are aware and that the state can help for if they do become affected and how they feel is appropriate,” said Monette in a statement to ICT.
Right now, many tribes are confident reserve funding will last at least 30 days from the start of the shutdown, but tribal leaders are stressed, Semans said.
“When you have the ship sinking or the canoe sinking you take care of the big holes first, and then let the little ones kind of creep up on you,” Semans said. “They (leaders) have their hands full. That’s why we need the (continuing resolution) to end, not just because of SNAP or the (Affordable Care Act), we need it to end because we need to run our governments, and they need to fund us our treaty obligated funds.”
A significant amount of Native people work for the federal government – roughly 30,600 people or 1.5 percent of the federal workforce, according to 2023 data from the Office of Personnel Management Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility Report. Now, over three weeks into the shutdown, those employees have gone without their first full paycheck. And as of Oct. 15, many enlisted members of the U.S. military stopped receiving pay.
“The public outcry is going to drive Congress back to the table to get this thing moving,” Cook Macarro said.
There may be an end in sight, hopefully, she said.
“Yesterday John Thune sent a message that it may be time for the members of the House to come back to Washington and pass a new bill for them to consider in the Senate,” Cook Macarro said. “Which is a strong indication that they are truly at an impasse in the United States Senate, and that Thune needs a New bill.”
This move could signal the beginning of negotiations around the Affordable Care Act and other provisions that the Democrats have been holding out for, Cook Maccarro said.
Overall, tribal leaders said they hope for collaboration between Senate Democrats and Republicans.
“The right wing and the left wing have to work together for the eagle to fly,” Lengkeek said, discussing a recent consultation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Right now the eagle can’t fly because the right wing is not working with the left wing, or vice versa. So you’re causing a lot of undue stress and unique situations and problems.”
This story has been updated to show it’s been 21 days since the shutdown as of Oct. 21, 2025, the day the story was published.