Government Shutdown Is a Life or Death Issue for Native Americans: Tribe Chairman
*By Carlo Versano*
For many Americans, the partial shutdown of the federal government is only felt in minor ways, if it all: [overflowing trash cans](https://wtop.com/dc/2019/01/national-park-service-gets-help-with-garbage-cleanup-during-government-shutdown/slide/1/) on the National Mall, or [free entry](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-government-shutdown-travel/index.html) to national parks. For Native Americans, a prolonged shutdown could mean life or death.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, part of the Dept of the Interior, is one federal office considered non-essential as President Trump and Congress fail to reach a deal over a funding impasse. For tribes like the Sault Ste. Marie of Michigan, which are heavily reliant on federal funding thanks to long-ago deals made with the government for services in exchange for land, the results of the shutdown as already devastating.
Aaron Payment, Sault Ste. Marie's chairman, told Cheddar that he's focused on one date: Jan. 15. That's when the tribe's next drawdown of federal funds is scheduled. If that transaction doesn't happen, critical services will become unavailable, he said.
"In the long term, it's going to have a drastic impact," he said, noting that the shutdown, already in day 14, is costing the tribe about $100,000 a day. Eventually, "we won't have access to healthcare," he said. "Our members need prescriptions and medicines that help keep them alive."
For Payment and members of his tribe and others, the situation in Washington is familiar. A 2013 shutdown under President Obama cost Sault Ste. Marie $1 million, he said, and had lasting impacts still felt today. Tribe members were laid off, furloughed, and lost healthcare providers, who pulled out due to the uncertainty of the shutdown. Recruiting health services is one of the most difficult challenges for Indian Country, which has the added disadvantage of being in rural areas without many providers.
Payment stressed that Native Americans were not asking for handouts, or reparations. As far back as the 1800s, tribes sold hundreds of millions of acres of land to the government "for the promise of health, education and social welfare in perpetuity." Those services are now deemed non-essential. And when the shutdown ends, it is not guaranteed that tribes will be reimbursed for the costs they incurred during the closure, the way other federal employees will be.
"We prepaid for everything," Payment said.
"The government is only as good as its word."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/tribe-leader-says-government-shutdown-could-have-drastic-impact).
Although this week's weather is predicted to be less severe than the 2021 storm, Texans are preparing for the worst - stocking up on supplies and emptying shelves in grocery stores, once again. Some Texans still have not recovered from last year's tragedy, and are heading into the next few weeks with anxiety for what's to come. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Houston-based energy workforce & technology council, joins Cheddar News to discuss if the Texas grid will fail again.
Student loan debt continues to be a major concern for tens of millions of Americans who collectively owe about $1.7 trillion. Black college students often take on larger amounts of student debt in order to pay for a higher education. In turn, they are more likely to struggle post-graduation with repaying their debt, creating a racial wealth gap divide. Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution joined All Hands to help break down the black student debt crisis.
After two NYPD officers were killed with an illegal gun, President Biden made a trip to New York City to speak on the issue of gun violence fed by the "iron pipeline" of illegal firearms that make their way from the South to the Big Apple. Kris Brown, the president of the gun violence prevention organization Brady United, joined Cheddar to discuss what this visit from the president could mean for the future of gun laws in America. "He's asked Congress to pass things like expanding the Brady background check system, but with the filibuster a barrier to so much action right now in the Congress, he's looking at solutions that involve funding at the federal level and really involve enforcement."
Following the surprising big beat on estimates for the January jobs report, William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, joined Cheddar News to break down the data. “We ended 2021 with a strong crescendo to a recovery that had taken hold, and we started 2022 in good fashion." He also discussed the dueling pressures of wage growth and inflation.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of the Rewired News Group and co-host of the podcast. "Boom! Lawyered," joins Cheddar Politics to discuss Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, legacy and potential replacement on the Supreme Court.
The Biden administration delivered a temporary win for student loan borrowers this year by extending the moratorium on federal payments for a few more months. That moratorium is coming to an end on May 1st and borrowers will again have their monthly loan payment plopped in their lap.
Stephanie Vanderslice, a creative writing professor paying off debt through the Parent Plus program, and Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
2022 was already going to be a big year for the Supreme Court. We have decisions on major issues like abortion and gun rights on the way. Then, Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement and that set up a major confirmation fight for later this year. Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The Labor Department released a better-than-expected report of 467,000 jobs added in January. Heather Boushey, Council of Economic Advisers Member for President Biden, joined Cheddar to tout the administration's handling of the economy amid the pandemic and the upward revisions for the previous month. "It also shows that, because of the revisions, the economy was stronger over the past couple of months," she said. "I don't think that this can be said enough, but economic forecasting during an historic pandemic is extremely difficult." Boushey also addressed issues involving wage growth versus the rapid rise of inflation.
