Members Voice Concerns Over BIA, IHS and OIA's Bloated Budget Requests

Today, the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service and Office of Insular Affairs. Subcommittee Chairman Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) issued the following statement in response:

"The President's budget continues to focus on conservation and climate change programs that can limit tribal access to natural resource development on tribal lands, fails to prioritize proper health services provided through the HIS, and is less than transparent in ensuring that all provisions of the 2024 COFA agreements are carried out in the manner that Congress intended. It is important that this committee continues to provide oversight of the BIA, IHS, and OIA, to ensure they are fulfilling their missions effectively, in a fiscally responsible manner, and for the benefit of those they serve."

Background

BIA is the primary agency responsible for many programs and policies that impact and support the well-being of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Unfortunately, the Biden administration's continued focus on climate change programs and the resulting policies it seeks to push on Indian Country may limit tribes' access to their own natural resources, limiting economic opportunity for tribes and failing to support tribes' self-governance and autonomy.

IHS is the primary agency providing health services to AI/AN communities throughout the United States. The agency has long been plagued by management issues that contribute to its providing substandard medical care to those who rely on it. The Biden administration continues its tone-deaf requests to shift all IHS funding to mandatory spending without adequate programmatic changes to ensure quality health care for AI/ANs.

OIA is the primary agency within the Department of the Interior responsible for carrying out Congressionally authorized programs impacting American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. OIA also administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. Under the Biden administration, OIA continues to push renewable-only energy policies on the territories. This approach limits the islands' ability to utilize energy sources that best meet their residents' reliability and affordability needs and deprives the territories of their rights to self-determination.

Committee Republicans have and will continue to promote responsible operation of these agencies and the programs they administer. Congress must ensure that these agencies provide the services and support intended to the United States' AI/AN communities and residents of the territories and Freely Associated States.

Today's hearing allowed members of the subcommittee to hear from the agencies' leaders and conduct oversight on the agencies' past performance and upcoming priorities for the next fiscal year.

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