Senate Indian Affairs hearing: tribal leaders warn HHS reorganization, staff cuts have disrupted grants and services

WASHINGTON — Tribal leaders told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Thursday that staff reductions and a broad reorganization at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have disrupted grant administration and diminished services tribal communities rely on outside the Indian Health Service.

The leaders said the changes have removed technical expertise, closed regional HHS offices, paused or canceled grants and left tribal grantees without timely guidance or a known point of contact. "To date, the reorganization has reduced HHS staff by 24 percent, disrupting grant access, tribal advisory committees, and causing tribal program staff to leave," Janet Elkier, chairwoman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Great Plains representative for the National Indian Health Board, said in testimony.

Tribal witnesses told senators that the cuts have reached across HHS programs that tribes use for health, social services and public safety — including CDC, HRSA, SAMHSA and ACF — and that some tribal grantees have already been notified their grants were terminated. "These are saving lives," Elkier said, asking the committee to press HHS for early, consistent and meaningful tribal consultation before implementation of further changes.

Why it matters: HHS programs beyond IHS fund Tribal Head Start, behavioral health, maternal and infant health tracking and other services that tribal leaders say form part of the federal trust responsibility. Witnesses said the loss of experienced HHS staff and broken lines of communication can halt grant continuation, delay solicitations and force local programs to scale back or lay off staff, undermining services for children, elders, victims of violence and people needing behavioral-health care.

Key testimony and examples: Committee witnesses described multiple concrete effects. Elkier said the reorganization led to cancellations of more than $6,000,000 in grants and the suspension or pause of key data systems used to track maternal and infant health. Lonnie Greninger, vice chair of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and ACF tribal advisory chair, said entire regional offices were eliminated and consolidated, leaving Alaska, Washington and other Region 10 contacts absorbed into Denver and depriving tribes of on-the-ground technical advisors.

Lucy Simpson of the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center and other witnesses described lost institutional knowledge at offices that provide technical assistance and grant management, and significant gaps in communication after leaders were placed on administrative leave. Melissa Charlie of the Fairbanks Native Association described the strained consequences for delivery of Head Start, elder services and behavioral-health programs in Alaska.

Committee response and next steps: Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski and Vice Chair Brian Schatz pressed for lists of affected grants and programs and urged HHS to engage in government-to-government consultation. Schatz and Murkowski said the committee would try to convene follow-up meetings to identify consistent points of contact within HHS and to press for restored communications and funding continuity.

What was not decided: The hearing elicited requests for information and commitments to follow up but produced no formal votes or binding decisions. Witnesses asked that HHS restore or replace lost regional staff, reissue guidance and continue funding streams while consultations are held.

Source notes: All quotes and attributions in this article are drawn from witness testimony and the committee exchange during the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs oversight hearing on HHS programs (testimony by Janet Elkier, Lonnie Greninger, Melissa Charlie, Lucy Simpson, Dr. Sherry Ann Daniels; chair comments by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and questions by Sen. Brian Schatz and others).