Recently, Melanie McFalls has been dreading opening her emails. As chair of the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Northern Nevada, she does not know what federal funding could be cut next. Over half of her Tribal government’s annual budget comes from federal grants, and one by one, they seem to be disappearing.
On March 7, they were notified that a $20 million Community Change Grant through the Environmental Protection Agency was suspended. On the same day, they found out that the USDA had terminated a grant that helped 120 households access locally-sourced meat. A month later, they received notice that they had lost a grant that paid for a full-time librarian to support an important community library program.
“We’re just still trying to figure this all out,” she said. “It was just trying to figure out, how are we going to do this? What are we going to do? What do we do now?”
Across the U.S., Tribal nations, like many communities, are losing federal funds. Infrastructure projects, food pantries and educational services have already been impacted by the Trump administration’s wide-scale budget cuts and dismantling of Biden-era environmental justice and DEI initiatives.
Most of the cuts don’t target Tribal communities, specifically. But while remote and low-income communities everywhere are impacted, treaty obligations mean that the federal government is uniquely responsible to support basic services in Tribal nations, which also makes them more vulnerable when sweeping budget cuts take place. And the worst could still be yet to come, with experts warning the staffing cuts combined with the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget could be seriously damaging to Indian Country economies.
Matthew Fletcher, professor of law at the University of Michigan, likened the impact to that of federal government shutdowns — except those have typically lasted only a few days or weeks. “This time it’s like a cascading effect, and there seems to be no end in sight,” he said.
Native American Tribes vary greatly in their population size, wealth, and natural resource and gaming opportunities, which is reflected in the mix of economies among communities. Several dozen are resource-rich and financially independent, Fletcher noted. But for many small, rural and urban Tribes that lack revenue-generating extraction or gaming opportunities, federal sources like treaty obligation payments, grants and government contracting are vital.
The U.S. federal government has legal and moral obligations in perpetuity towards Tribal nations’ protection, health care, education, reservations and sovereignty, in exchange for the resources and lands Tribes ceded through treaty processes in the late 1800’s, Fletcher said.
Federal funds are significant for Tribal governments for a number of reasons. Treaty obligations mean the federal government must pay appropriations to the sovereign governments of Tribes to maintain certain services. Unlike state and local governments, Tribal governments can have a hard time raising revenue through taxes. Many have limited tax bases, and businesses on reservations could face issues of dual taxation from the state, local, and Tribal governments. Additionally, many Tribal governments have complex land ownership systems with differing degrees of Tribal and federal control.
Unlike local governments, many Tribal governments also receive very little from state governments, according to a pilot survey from the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) housed in the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank.
In the sweeping cuts to federal programs by DOGE and Trump, then acting secretary of the interior Walter Cruickshank issued an order instructing that treaty and trust obligations to Tribal nations should be excluded from the dismantling of DEI policy. Nevertheless, Tribes are being impacted, according to a survey published May 13 by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. They estimate “hundreds of millions of dollars or more” has been pulled from Native communities already, though a calculation of the exact impact is not yet possible as the situation unfolds and policies change on a daily basis.
The survey gives accounts from anonymized respondents on the effects they are experiencing or are concerned about. Over 20 Bureau of Indian Affairs’ regional offices are being closed. Eleven federally recognized Tribal Nations in Wisconsin are set to lose their region’s BIA office in August with 40 employees. This raises concerns over their access to services for land management between the Tribal and federal governments, real estate management and law enforcement support.
Trump’s FY2026 budget proposes Bureau of Indian Affairs programs for self-governance and communities to be cut by $617 million, with BIA public safety and justice programs facing cuts of $107 million and its education construction account, cuts of $187 million.
Fletcher characterized these defunding of services as “absolutely a plain and clear egregious violation of the duty of protection and trust responsibility.” Advocates also point out that community leadership is not being consulted over major changes to services that impact them, an important part of treaty obligations.
One project that is already impacted is the Walker River Paiute Tribe’s Water Looping Project. In development since 2022, it had finally been granted the CCG funding in December, giving the project the greenlight. The project would update the water and energy infrastructure of 150 homes.
“New homes are one of our biggest priorities here,” McFalls said. The infrastructure would also allow them to build more homes for the growing population, and it was hoped would bring in new businesses into the community too.
Then she got thrown into the whiplash of funding cuts. The day she received notice of the CCG funding suspensions was the day they started interviewing for new roles funded by the very same grant. “We’re in the middle of interviews during the suspension and we had to figure out, what do we do now?”
They have hired 2 people for vital roles in the water treatment plant. But her project team has had to go back to the drawing board and consult with those involved to bring down the cost of the water infrastructure project. They are in the process of seeking congressional funding to fill the gap.
“I don’t want to see this project fail,” she said. “It’s needed for our community. It just has to happen.”
The EPA and the USDA were some of the first to be targeted by the Trump administration. According to the CCG’s website, the fund was set up by the Biden administration to “help ensure that communities with unique circumstances, geography, and needs can equitably compete for funding.” Of the total, around $400 million was promised to 21 projects that would benefit Tribal communities.
Federal services and programs outside treaty obligations can also be important for Tribal communities, particularly those in remote and low-income areas. Worryingly, many of these programs are being considered for further cuts according to the proposed FY2026 budget.
“Indian Country could feel a disproportionate impact from many of the Administration’s broad proposed or enacted policies, funding reductions, and staff elimination,” said Chris James, president and CEO of the NCAIED.
The low income heating energy assistance program could be eliminated. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is being considered for significant cuts. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which manages fisheries and protects marine ecosystems is also up for major funding decreases.
Many areas of Indian Country are in banking deserts, where Native Community Development Financial Institutions play an important role to provide loan and mortgage services to the community. These institutions are supported by awards from the CDFI Fund, which is proposed for a 90% funding cut.
With proposed cuts and delays in funding for a host of community programs, the stakes are high. “Continued underfunding or delays in funding will exacerbate food insecurity, limit early childhood education, and stifle workforce development in Tribal areas – prolonging cycles of poverty and dependence,” an executive director of an intertribal social service organization said in a response to the NCAIED survey.
Back in Nevada, McFalls is hopeful that other funding will come through to plug the holes left by grant terminations. She has traveled to Washington D.C. twice to advocate and explain the Tribe’s need for funding, asking congressional representatives to find out if any other grants are being halted. She is hopeful there won’t be any further terminations.
“We’re hoping that we don’t get anything else,” she said. In the meantime, she is spending her days in meetings with her team, crunching numbers, contacting people to make things work.
“I’m just going to continue the fight and continue advocating,” McFalls said. “That’s all I can do for now.”