In rural Tribal communities across the United States, public radio is more than a source of news and entertainment; it's a lifeline. These stations deliver critical infrastructure for communication and connection, especially in areas where broadband access and even phone lines remain limited or nonexistent. Tribal radio broadcasts emergency alerts during storms, helps locate missing persons, shares local news, and preserves language, memory, and identity.

• Read more about Public Radio at Risk: What’s at Stake for Tribal and Rural Communities

The federal budget consists of both mandatory and discretionary spending. Mandatory spending, such as the annual costs of programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, is determined by formulas and program eligibility criteria outlined in existing laws.

• Read more about Explainer: Annual Appropriations Process for the Executive Branch Budget

Congress is actively working to finalize this year’s federal budget bill, referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the Act). The Act reflects the Trump Administration’s budget and policy priorities for Fiscal Year 2025, including many related to wireless spectrum. 

• Read more about Explainer: Competing House and Senate Wireless Spectrum Provisions in the Budget Act Could Affect Tribal Broadband Access

Across the country, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students, citizens of sovereign Tribal Nations, are reaching an incredible milestone: graduation. For many, this moment is marked not only by receiving a diploma, but through wearing items of deep personal and cultural significance, such as eagle feathers, beaded caps, or traditional clothing. Tribal regalia is not only a meaningful expression of culture and community, it is also a reflection of constitutionally and federally protected rights.

• Read more about Cultural Sovereignty in Practice: Recognizing the Right to Wear Regalia at Graduation

This brief follows up on the recent AIPI Policy Explainer: Federal Trust Responsibility and Higher Education, which clarified the status of programs supporting American Indian students in higher education in response to recent legal and policy developments by explaining that Federal relationships with Tribal Nations and their citizens/members are based on political distinctions rather than racial classifications.

• Read more about Policy Explainer: The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Upholding the Federal Trust Responsibility as Applied by Arizona State University

This explainer clarifies the status of programs supporting American Indian students in higher education in response to recent legal and policy developments. Federal relationships with Tribal Nations and their citizens/members are based on political distinctions rather than racial classifications. The framework outlined in this document reflects the federal government’s unique relationship with and obligations to Tribal Nations.

Legal Framework

• Read more about Policy Explainer: Federal Trust Responsibility and Higher Education

• Read more about At the intersection of Law & Policy in Indian Education

The decision in  Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. is just as impactful as the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade,  its ruling on Presidential immunity, or any of the other recent blockbuster decisions. On its face, Loper Bright appeared to be a rather benign case involving commercial fishing vessels and whether private parties had to pay for federal observers on those vessels for purposes of monitoring possible overfishing – a scenario with little relevance to most tribes.

• Read more about Unrelenting Litigation? The Supreme Court’s Overruling of Chevron in Loper Bright Enterprises & Relentless, Inc. and What’s Next for Tribes

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or BIL) created several new programs to expand broadband access.

• Read more about Policy Explainer: Digital Equity Act Programs Update