President Trump signed an executive order that directs the U.S. Department of the Interior to come up with a plan within three months for giving the Lumbee full federal recognition.
The department’s to consider “each potential legal pathway,” including recognition through an act of Congress, the courts or the existing administrative recognition process, Trump said.
The order also noted that the U.S. House “several times” has passed bills that would recognize the Lumbee, which would give the tribe access to federal subsidies.
The most recent of those attempts cleared the House in December, but didn’t get taken up in the Senate. North Carolina’s Congressional delegation has renewed the drive with a new set of bills in the 119th Congress.
Other tribes, most prominently the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, have opposed recognition for the Lumbee. They fear a reduction of their own subsidies, and potentially competition in the casino business if the Lumbee can get one of their own up and running along Interstate 95.
Eastern Band leaders have argued that any recognition should go through the existing administrative recognition process, and that it’s come a cropper there because the Lumbee can’t prove they’re bona fide Native Americans.
A presidential thumb on the scales of that process could invite litigation. Congress, on the other hand, has Article I, Section 8 Constitutional authority to “regulate commerce … with the Indian tribes.” |