- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies will conduct a review of President Joe Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget request for Indian Country on Thursday, May 23, 2024. The subcommittee is chaired by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR).
Making testimony for Indian Affairs will be Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community) and Indian Health Service (IHS) Director Roselyn Tso (Navajo).
The FY 2025 President's Budget request for Indian Affairs programs is $4.6 billion. This includes $2.9 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, $1.5 billion for the Bureau of Indian Education, and $111.3 million for the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration.
The President's Fiscal Year 2025 Budget builds on the historic achievement and successful implementation of advance appropriations and includes a total of $8.2 billion for the IHS in FY 2025, which is an increase of $1.1 billion or 16 percent above FY 2023.
Watch the hearing here.
A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for Indian Country
PRESIDING: Chair Merkley
WITNESSES: The Honorable Roselyn Tso, Director, Indian Health Service, The Honorable Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 2024, 10:30 AM ET
More Stories Like This
Native News Weekly (August 25, 2024): D.C. BriefsUS Presidents in Their Own Words Concerning American Indians
Native News Weekly (August 4, 2024): D.C. Briefs
Protests Greet Western Governors in Santa Fe
Red Hoop Talk: Native Stories, Real Conversations
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher
