What the new Congress means for Indian Country

There will be four Indigenous representatives with voting power in the Senate and House, but it’s less than those elected in 2020

President Biden’s commitment to tribal sovereignty, self-government and self-determination for tribal communities may face some challenges with Republicans winning 220 seats for a U.S. House majority. Democrats lost nine seats and now have 213 seats.

Democrats keep control of the U.S. Senate after key wins in Nevada and Arizona. The majority could increase by one if Sen. Raphael Warnock, Democrat, beats Republican candidate Herschel Walker in a runoff election on Tuesday in Georgia.

The Democratic political landscape continues to see change with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing her resignation from her leadership position on Nov. 17, which she has held for nearly 20 years. She said she will remain a representative from San Francisco, another longtime position that she has had for 35 years.

“I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” she said. “For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect.”

House Democrats have turned to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), who was elected to be the first Black American to head a major political party in Congress. Jeffries, 52, vowed to “get things done” in the new Congress, even after Republicans won control of the chamber. The closed-door vote was unanimous, by acclamation. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) is the new House speaker.

Over the years Pelosi has supported Indigenous people by advocating and meeting with the National Congress of American Indians and tribal leaders for the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act as part of the Affordable Health Care for America Act in 2010.

“She took the time to bring us to the table and have us and have that conversation, hear about the tribes priorities and at the end of the day, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act was included in as part of Obama Care and made permanent,” Holly Cook Macarro, Red Lake Nation, a partner at Spirit Rock Consulting and a regular political contributor on ICT Newscast with Aliyah Chavez said.

Pelosi supported the passing of the Violence Against Women Act and its importance for Indigenous women, the Not Invisible Act and Savana’s Act that addressed the MMIW crisis. She additionally supported the passing of the 2020 Cares Act that established the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which allocated $8 billion to tribal governments and Alaska Native Corporations to address “necessary expenditures” incurred because of COVID-19.

She recently spoke about “exploring a path” for a non-voting delegate from the Cherokee Nation after a House Rules Committee on Nov. 16. In 2019, Cherokee Nation citizen Kim Teehee was nominated to serve as the tribe’s first delegate.

“Our Caucus has drawn great strength from the leadership of our Native American colleagues and the Congressional Native American Caucus,” Pelosi said in a statement. “As we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month, the Democratic House remains committed to correcting the profound injustices of the past, living up to the federal government’s treaty obligations, fully embracing our trust responsibility and building a brighter, fairer future for the Cherokee Nation and all indigenous peoples.”

Republican House Rep. Tom Cole, Chickasaw Nation, who recently was reelected to his 11th term in Oklahoma, said in his weekly chat that Pelosi had a remarkable run in her leadership role and her decision not to rerun is very consequential.

“I would argue a very partisan and a very polarizing figure, but also one that got legislation done that her party believed in,” Cole said. “Her absence will mean a huge shakeup in the Democratic ranks.”

He also celebrated the Republican winning the House majority.

“To me that means the car has some brake’s on it again. There will be a lot of things that Biden was able to get through that he will not be able to get through. It also means the two parties will have to figure out a way to work together,” Cole said.

Some accomplishments that the Biden administration has accomplished with the help of the Democratic majority is advocating for funding to address the needs of Indigenous communities through the American Rescue plan and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that invested a total of $43 billion in Indian Country. The bipartisan infrastructure bill included an opportunity to apply for billions more through grants and other funding sources.

In the fiscal year 2022 budget presented to Congress, Biden requested that an additional $2.2 billion be allocated for Indian Health Service, pushing the budget to $8.5 billion, and for advanced appropriation of $9 billion for fiscal year 2023.

In October 2021, Biden signed an executive order to restore Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah. Biden made other promises this week.

On Wednesday, Biden pledged to give Native people a stronger voice in federal affairs, promising that he will bolster tribal consultations, inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in decision-making and funding for communities struggling with the impacts of climate change. Biden spoke on the opening day of the two-day White House Tribal Nations Summit.

Jordan James Harvill, the national program director for Advance Native Political Leadership, said Indian Country is not in immediate danger of the mixed Democrat and Republican majorities in the House and Senate. But he is concerned about the basic government functions that tribal governments rely on such as the debt limit deal that may result in a furlough for federal employees who work in the Indian Health Services or the Bureau of Indian Education which will affect the resources they provide.

“That’s not great for the continuity of our government because we’re so tied to the function of the federal government,” the Cherokee and Choctaw citizen said.

Harvill added that they are paying close attention to the Indian Child Welfare Act and the progress that Congress is making on codifying it, and how to advance and protect core tribal sovereignty interests that have been established like environmental protections and public lands.

He said there has been an increase politicalization of tribal sovereignty like with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Cherokee, who supported the Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, a ruling that reversed McGirt v. Oklahoma, by finding the federal government and the state have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Natives for crimes committed on Native land. 

“We’re seeing this place where Republican Native peoples and representatives are starting to create this small break that can turn into something much larger around protecting tribal sovereignty in their roles,” he said.

Although Harvill said the current people in Congress do have a good track record with tribal sovereignty like Cole and Republicans like U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, who relies on the Native vote. He said Indian Country has done a good job in staying non-partisan and are “going to have to lean heavily on our bipartisan relationships,” for the new House and Senate.

The new Congress will have four Indigenous voting members, down from six elected in 2020.

• Republican U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee Nation, of Oklahoma, won his bid for U.S. Senate, becoming the first Native in the Senate in nearly 20 years.
• Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, Chickasaw, of Oklahoma won his reelection.
• Democrat U.S. Rep Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, of Kansas, was reelected to a third term.
• Democrat U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, Yup’ik, won a full term. She is coming off winning a special election in August, succeeding Don Young’s term and becoming the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress and the first woman to hold Alaska’s House seat.

Eight Indigenous candidates lost their bids for a U.S. House seat in the November election.

• Republican Yvette Herrell, Cherokee Nation, of New Mexico lost her reelection bid to Democrat Gabe Vasquez.
• Democrat Jeremiah Ross, Muscogee, of Oklahoma, lost to Republican Frank Lucas.
• Democrat Charles Graham, Lumbee, of North Carolina, lost to Republican David Rouzer.
• Republican John Mark Porter, Lone Pine Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, of California, lost to Democrat Pete Aguilar.
• Democrat Elizabeth Mercedes Kraus, Oglala Lakota, of Nevada, lost to Republican Mark Amodei.
• Republican Joe Akana, Native Hawaiian, of Hawai’i, lost to Democrat Jill Tokuda.
• Democrat Taysha DeVaughan, Comanche, of Virginia, lost to Republican Morgan Griffith.
• Democrat Lynette Grey Bull, Northern Arapaho and Hunkpapa Lakota, of Wyoming, lost to Republican Harriet Hageman.

Pauly Denetclaw, Aliyah Chavez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.