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Chair presses Interior on staffing, BIA grant cuts and probate backlog in opening remarks
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Summary
In opening remarks at a Senate committee hearing, the chair warned that proposed Interior Department cuts would deeply affect agencies serving Indian country and the West, urged restoration of tribal community resilience grants, and called for permanent, culturally competent staff to address a years‑long probate backlog.
Chair opened the Senate committee hearing and framed the session around the Department of the Interior’s FY27 budget request, telling the Interior secretary she appreciated improved agency communication and recent work on Alaska priorities.
The chair credited the administration with several Alaska‑related actions, saying officials had “lifted part of the public land order 51 50 to help complete the state's land entitlement” and noting progress on the Ambler access project, Alaska LNG (AKLNG) and coastal plain work. She also cited a petroleum reserve lease sale that “raised $183,000,000.”
Why it matters: The chair said the budget request includes structural shifts she wants to examine — including a proposed new wildland fire service and a new marine minerals administration — and warned that projected savings must be weighed against the need for adequate regulatory staffing.
The chair singled out steep proposed cuts to multiple Interior accounts, listing the administration’s figures: a 37% reduction proposed for the U.S. Geological Survey account, 26% for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 32% for the National Park Service and 35% for the Bureau of Land Management. “I’m also less enthused about the budget cuts for just about every bureau,” she said.
She pressed the potential loss of the Bureau of Indian Affairs tribal community resilience grants, which she described as programs tribal communities rely on to prepare for and respond to natural disasters and other environmental threats. “Your budget again proposes to eliminate this critical program,” the chair said, and urged the committee to retain funding that tribal communities depend on.
The chair called attention to several other priorities for Alaska, asking for accelerated work on contaminated lands, expedited allotments for Alaska Native Vietnam veterans and assurance that any new offshore program would focus on the correct basins. She also reminded the committee that the department must meet obligations to U.S. territories.
Probate backlog and staffing: The chair made the probate backlog affecting Indian country a central line of questioning to come, saying that even with vacancies filled it would take about eight years to resolve existing cases. She emphasized the need for “culturally competent permanent staff” and broader staffing across Interior bureaus so the department can complete work “on time and in a legally defensible matter.”
The hearing will proceed to witness testimony and questions; the chair closed by thanking the secretary and turning to him to begin the committee’s review.
Quote highlights: “This probate backlog that impacts Indian country is just not acceptable,” the chair said, pressing the need for more permanent staff. She also said the department had “gotten the Ambler access project back on track.”
Ending: The committee moved from opening remarks into formal testimony and questioning on the budget request.
