WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) - An appeals court has ruled for the Navajo Nation in a dispute with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs over federal funding for the tribe’s judicial services.
The tribe says the ruling by the District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means the BIA owes the tribe approximately $15.6 million plus interest, an amount many times larger than the $1.3 million that the agency awarded.
The decision Tuesday said federal officials missed a deadline to reject the tribe’s funding request and were wrong to contend they had additional time to decide because of a partial government shutdown in 2013.
The decision overturns a trial judge’s ruling for the BIA.
Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the BIA had plenty of time to act after the partial shutdown ended.
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