The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is preparing to sue the Obama administration for $49.8 million in unpaid contract support costs.

The tribal council authorized the filing of the lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the Indian Health Service.

“The United States Supreme Court said we’re due contract support costs,” council member Chuck Hoskin Jr. said on Monday, The Tahlequah Daily Press reported. “Unfortunately, we’re having to engage in further litigation to get that money.”

The 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cherokee Nation v. Leavitt determined that the tribe is owed contract support costs for self-determination contracts. The 2012 decision in Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter reached the same conclusion but tribes have had trouble recovering money from the federal government.

Get the Story:
Tribe filing $49.8M civil suit against feds (The Tahlequah Daily Press 6/11)

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