Senators press nominee on probate backlog, contaminated sites and BIA program delivery

WASHINGTON — Senators used William H. "Billy" Kirkland’s confirmation hearing to press the nominee on program delivery problems at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, including a long probate backlog, thousands of contaminated sites on tribal lands in Alaska, relocation needs for climate-threatened villages and delays in distributing climate resilience and hatchery funds. Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski highlighted a roughly 48,000-case probate backlog and asked for a public commitment to work with the committee and the department to resolve it. Kirkland said the backlog was a priority for the secretary and the department and that he would take a look at operational and technological improvements to reduce delays. Senator Maria Cantwell raised multiple program-delivery issues: she urged prompt release of BIA’s tribal climate resilience awards, asked for help getting $240 million in hatchery funding for tribes out of the door, and described risks when DOI reassigns appropriations to short-term tribal media grants rather than sustaining existing services. She also described contaminated-site numbers in Alaska and asked Kirkland to move quickly on remediation where BIA had missed deadlines. Kirkland said he would be brought up to speed and work with senators and tribes to prioritize remediation and funding distribution. Why it matters: probate delays can prevent heirs from accessing property and housing; contaminated sites pose public-health risks; and timely distribution of congressionally appropriated grants and awards affects community resilience, food security (hatcheries) and emergency communications (tribal public radio). Senators asked for follow-up and for the nominee to help identify and remove administrative bottlenecks that delay program delivery. No programmatic decisions were adopted during the hearing; senators requested expedited reports and pledged continued oversight of program rollout and remediation timelines.