Indian Affairs seeks staff additions, TIF planning funds as lawmakers press on reversions and unspent suicide-prevention dollars

The Indian Affairs Department told a Senate budget committee it needs three positions — a contract attorney, a chief procurement officer and an office clerk — and additional nonrecurring planning funds for tribal infrastructure as it seeks to expand capacity to manage intergovernmental agreements and capital projects.

Secretary Josette Monet and Indian Affairs analyst Antonio Ortega outlined the department’s FY26 request during a hearing that also included DFA staff and the tribal infrastructure fund review chair. Monet said the executive recommendation proposes a 7.7 percent increase over FY25 that would fund three FTEs, $289,000 in personnel costs, $100,000 for “other” operating costs and an additional $50,000 for staff-related fees. Monet said the department also requested $2.5 million in nonrecurring funds “to administer funds to nations, pueblos and tribes to do comprehensive planning regarding infrastructure.”

Committee members probed the department’s pattern of reversions and its ability to spend prior special appropriations. Senator Woods and others cited historical reversions of roughly $1 million per year and asked why available balances were not used to fill vacancies or expedite contract awards. Ortega and Monet said many vacancies have been reduced and some positions were temporarily held to avoid personnel overspending; Monet said the department currently has about seven vacancies and is actively recruiting.

Lawmakers also questioned delays in spending suicide-prevention appropriations. Monet said a special appropriation of about $6 million across appropriations has been difficult to fully expend and that the department has been weighing options such as hiring contractors or allocating funds to priority activities. She said some behavioral-health and suicide-prevention funds remain encumbered and acknowledged the department may not fully expend all special-appropriation money before the FY25 June 30 deadline.

Monet emphasized workload: she told the committee the department processes “over 200 different contracts” annually, including IGAs and capital outlay agreements, and said a contract attorney would focus on IGA reviews to free the general counsel to handle other legal work. Mark Thompson, chair of the TIF review committee, described the TIF application review as a competitive scoring process across critical need, project readiness, capacity and leverage.

Committee members urged faster contract turnaround so tribes have the full multi‑year windows to complete projects, and they pressed Monet to use available operating balances to hire staff more quickly. Monet confirmed an MOU governs DFA and Indian Affairs fund flows for TIF awards and said the TIF application portal typically opens in early February for about 30 days.

The department also acknowledged an FY24 financial restatement related to an administrative material weakness and described ongoing clean-up work in its administrative services division.

Committee members did not take formal action on the department’s request during the hearing; budget decisions will be finalized in follow-up appropriations work.

Monet said the department’s goal is to stabilize staffing and improve contracting turnaround so tribes and pueblos receive awarded funds and can complete projects within expected time frames.