On December 24, 2025, the Native American Rights Fund filed an amicus brief supporting an injunction that blocked a sweeping federal funding freeze directed by the Office of Management and Budget in January 2025. The injunction prevents the enforcement of the original directive as well as similar future policies. The brief was submitted on behalf of a broad coalition of Tribal Nations and Native-serving organizations, underscoring the widespread concern about the impact of funding disruptions on Indian Country.
Federal funding freezes directly undermine the United States’ ability to meet its trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations and Native people. These obligations stem from a historical debt incurred through the seizure of nearly two billion acres of Tribal land via war, treaties, and coercive actions. As long as the United States retains these lands and resources, it remains bound to provide services and funding to Tribal communities. The funding freeze disrupted precisely these mechanisms, breaching legal obligations and threatening the stability, health, and well-being of Tribal Nations.
Beyond land dispossession, the United States also restricted Tribal Nations’ inherent sovereignty and revenue-generating capacities, leaving many communities dependent on federal funding to meet essential needs. These compounded injustices have contributed to disproportionate socioeconomic challenges and persistent health disparities among Native populations. As a result, even short-term disruptions in funding can have severe and immediate consequences for Tribal communities.
Tribal Nations and Native-serving organizations maximize the impact of every federal dollar, not only through efficiency but out of necessity due to chronic underfunding and significant unmet needs. Each dollar supports the fulfillment of trust and treaty obligations, making any interruption deeply felt. The brief emphasizes that Native lives should not be treated as leverage in political or budgetary disputes, and that the harms caused by funding freezes are uniquely severe in Indian Country.
The legal challenge began in January 2025 when a coalition of nonprofit organizations filed National Council of Nonprofits v. Office of Management and Budget. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order blocking the funding freeze, followed by a preliminary injunction extending that protection. In her ruling, Judge Loren L. AliKhan highlighted evidence showing that the funding freeze would cause nationwide disruption and could be economically catastrophic, and even fatal, for affected communities.
Although the Trump administration appealed the injunction, the Tribal amicus brief urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to uphold it. The filing reinforces the position that maintaining the block on the funding freeze is essential to ensuring the federal government honors its financial commitments and longstanding promises to Tribal Nations and Native people.
