A federal judge is once again ordering Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to release the full amount of stimulus funding Congress set aside for Native American tribes.
A Tuesday 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.
“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 sets aside $8 billion for tribal governments.
“The 80 days they have waited, when Congress intended receipt of emergency funds in less than half that time, is long enough.”
The Treasury Department did not respond to request for comment.
Tribes have waged a months-long battle to gain access to the funds set aside by Congress. It wasn’t until May that Treasury announced it would begin releasing the first 60 percent of CARES funding, following a decision just a week prior from Mehta blocking the department from giving the funds to Native-owned corporations in Alaska….