Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin to Give Native Americans Their Withheld Stimulus Money

Frustrated and disgusted that it has taken so long for the Department of the Treasury to distribute Federal stimulus funds to Native American tribes, a federal judge ordered Secretary Steve Mnuchin to distribute the money immediately, according to HuffPost.
The judge said that the Native Americans should have received their portion of the CARES Act months ago when other Americans received theirs.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta was particularly critical of Mnuchin's decision to hold back $679 million in funding set aside for tribes while waiting on a decision in another case that will determine whether tribal businesses are eligible for the funding, as The Hill reported.
"Continued delay in the face of an exceptional public health crisis is no longer acceptable," said Mehta, who gave Mnuchin until Wednesday to disburse the funds, as HuffPost reported.
"The Secretary has now taken more than twice as much time as Congress directed to distribute all CARES Act funds," Mehta wrote, referring to the $2.2 trillion March legislation that earmarked $8 billion for tribal governments, according to The Hill. "The 80 days they have waited, when Congress intended receipt of emergency funds in less than half that time, is long enough."
The money is desperately needed, as the Navajo Nation saw the largest spike in COVID-19 cases per capita in the nation and access to clean water and reliable healthcare remain limited for many tribes.
As a result of the delayed payments, the Navajo Nation has not been able to develop adequate COVID-19 response and protection plans, like hazard pay for employees and sanitation of buildings and businesses on the largest reservation in the country, according to Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, as IndianZ reported.
Nez stressed that the delay is significant since the CARES Act requires the tribes' money to be spent by Dec. 31.
"There's a timeline on this," Nez said, as as IndianZ reported. "We need to get those dollars to all the tribes across the country so they can help their citizens. We are wanting to use these dollars for the immediate needs."
When Congress set aside $8 billion for tribes when it passed the CARES Act stimulus package in late March, it directed the Treasury Department to distribute the money by April 26. That never happened. In late May, Treasury distributed about half the money, while most of the remaining money was sent out last Friday, as HuffPost reported.
"Sovereign Nations shouldn't have to fight for money that Congress approves, ever. It's shameful that a judge has to force the Treasury to do their job," Rep. Deb Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat and co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, said on Twitter, as The Hill reported.
Much of the delay is attributed to the Treasury Department's overwhelming incompetence in dealing with Native American tribes and its initial maneuver to distribute stimulus money to Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs).
ANCs, which are not government entities, have enormous land holdings and secure significant profits from timber and oil sales. Judge Mehta blocked the Treasury Department from giving money to them.
According to The Hill, ANCs have appealed and the case is still unresolved, but Mehta said Mnuchin has not been directed to reserve any funding for them.
"That amount is being withheld of the Secretary's own accord," Mehta wrote in his decision. "The Secretary's withholding of $672 million 'to resolve any potentially adverse decision in litigation' ... simply cannot be justified."
Lawmakers praised Mehta's decision and expressed anger that the Treasury Department has treated Native Americans so dismissively.
"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, a New Mexico Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, told HuffPost in a statement. "It continues to be a shameful scandal that the Trump administration has dawdled with this funding while people in Native communities are getting sick and dying, and while businesses and essential services are shuttering."
"It is unconscionable that it has taken court action to force this administration to distribute relief to Tribal governments as Congress intended and the law requires," said Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and chairman of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States on the House Natural Resources Committee, as HuffPost reported.
- Native Americans' Pandemic Response Is Hindered by Inequities ... ›
- Big Oil Taking $1.9 Billion in CARES Act Tax Breaks - EcoWatch ›
- In Major Win for Indigenous Rights, Supreme Court Rules Much of Eastern Oklahoma Is Still a Reservation - EcoWatch ›
- Democrats Unveil Bill Addressing Cultural Genocide Against Native Americans - EcoWatch ›
- Biden Taps Rep. Deb Haaland to Lead Interior in Historic Move - EcoWatch ›
At first glance, you wouldn't think avocados and almonds could harm bees; but a closer look at how these popular crops are produced reveals their potentially detrimental effect on pollinators.
Migratory beekeeping involves trucking millions of bees across the U.S. to pollinate different crops, including avocados and almonds. Timothy Paule II / Pexels / CC0
<p>According to <a href="https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/israeli-kitchen/beekeeping-how-to-keep-bees" target="_blank">From the Grapevine</a>, American avocados also fully depend on bees' pollination to produce fruit, so farmers have turned to migratory beekeeping as well to fill the void left by wild populations.</p><p>U.S. farmers have become reliant upon the practice, but migratory beekeeping has been called exploitative and harmful to bees. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/health/avocado-almond-vegan-partner/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported that commercial beekeeping may injure or kill bees and that transporting them to pollinate crops appears to negatively affect their health and lifespan. Because the honeybees are forced to gather pollen and nectar from a single, monoculture crop — the one they've been brought in to pollinate — they are deprived of their normal diet, which is more diverse and nourishing as it's comprised of a variety of pollens and nectars, Scientific American reported.</p><p>Scientific American added how getting shuttled from crop to crop and field to field across the country boomerangs the bees between feast and famine, especially once the blooms they were brought in to fertilize end.</p><p>Plus, the artificial mass influx of bees guarantees spreading viruses, mites and fungi between the insects as they collide in midair and crawl over each other in their hives, Scientific American reported. According to CNN, some researchers argue that this explains why so many bees die each winter, and even why entire hives suddenly die off in a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.</p>Avocado and almond crops depend on bees for proper pollination. FRANK MERIÑO / Pexels / CC0
<p>Salazar and other Columbian beekeepers described "scooping up piles of dead bees" year after year since the avocado and citrus booms began, according to Phys.org. Many have opted to salvage what partial colonies survive and move away from agricultural areas.</p><p>The future of pollinators and the crops they help create is uncertain. According to the United Nations, nearly half of insect pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, risk global extinction, Phys.org reported. Their decline already has cascading consequences for the economy and beyond. Roughly 1.4 billion jobs and three-quarters of all crops around the world depend on bees and other pollinators for free fertilization services worth billions of dollars, Phys.org noted. Losing wild and native bees could <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wild-bees-crop-shortage-2646849232.html" target="_self">trigger food security issues</a>.</p><p>Salazar, the beekeeper, warned Phys.org, "The bee is a bioindicator. If bees are dying, what other insects beneficial to the environment... are dying?"</p>EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Australia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It is home to more than 7% of all the world's plant and animal species, many of which are endemic. One such species, the Pharohylaeus lactiferus bee, was recently rediscovered after spending nearly 100 years out of sight from humans.
Trending
Scientists have newly photographed three species of shark that can glow in the dark, according to a study published in Frontiers in Marine Science last month.
- 10 Little-Known Shark Facts - EcoWatch ›
- 4 New Walking Shark Species Discovered - EcoWatch ›
- 5 Incredible Species That Glow in the Dark - EcoWatch ›
FedEx's entire parcel pickup and delivery fleet will become 100 percent electric by 2040, according to a statement released Wednesday. The ambitious plan includes checkpoints, such as aiming for 50 percent electric vehicles by 2025.
Lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic had the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by around seven percent, or 2.6 billion metric tons, in 2020.
- Which Is Worse for the Planet: Beef or Cars? - EcoWatch ›
- Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit Record High Despite Lockdowns, UN ... ›
- 1.8 Billion Tons More Greenhouse Gases Will Be Released, Thanks ... ›