With their party now in control of the U.S. Congress, Republicans are defending their record on Indian issues after Democrats sought changes to the rules on a key legislative committee.

At the first meeting of the House Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday, Democrats sought to ensure that tribal governments are consulted on issues affecting their nations. They also sought assurances that witnesses from Indian Country and remote areas would be able to testify virtually before the panel.

“Democrats will be focused on standing up for all families and working people, including Indigenous communities,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), who is the highest-ranking Democratic member of the panel.

But Republicans on the committee, including the chairman, rejected the Democratic efforts. They insisted that they have always listened to tribes, citing their work in the prior session of Congress, during which they also had control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“In fact, I would assume that the committee chairs will be inviting a variety of tribal members to come and testify on those matters that are important to them, depending upon the issue at hand,” said Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming), who most recently served as chair of the House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs and presided over numerous hearings with Indian Country witnesses.

“I take offense at anyone who might imply that there is any sort of racism associated with it on this side of the aisle,” said Hageman, responding to Democrats who had talked about the colonization and dispossession of Indian lands — not about race or racism.

Even Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), a firebrand who is not normally know for her views on Indian issues, jumped in to defend the GOP. She previously served a district in Colorado that includes the reservations of the Southern Ute Tribe and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

“We’ve always invited our tribal leaders and members here to the committee, and have been open to these discussions,” said Boebert, who pointed to her work with leaders of the two Ute tribes.

She added: “We enjoy working closely with them. We recognize their sovereignty.”

But Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico) said tribal consultation needed to be written directly into the committee’s rules, especially in light of the new Republican president of the United States. She pointed out that Donald Trump — on his first day in office on Monday — immediately went against the wishes of tribal nations in Alaska by seeking to change the Native language name of Denali, the highest peak in North America.

“For the incoming president to take unilateral action to change the name of this sacred mountain without consultation of the tribal nations that are impacted by them is something that we just simply cannot abide by,” said Stansbury.

“And certainly we want to hold this committee to account and make sure that as we enter this new policy era that we are  consulting with our tribes, our tribal nations, our tribal entities,” Stansbury said of her rules proposal that was eventually rejected by the Republican majority on the committee.

Huffman, who had competed with Stansbury for the ranking member position, offered another proposal to change the rules. He said Republicans are making it harder for witnesses who live far away from Washington, D.C., to testify before the committee.

“So our jurisdiction includes places like Guam, American Samoa, remote tribes, Alaska Native villages, Native Hawaiian communities,” said Huffman. “We should be hearing from those people in those locations, many of whom represent marginalized communities.”

According to Huffman, the committee rules only allow the Republican chair of the committee — that would be Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) — to approve virtual testimony from a witness. He noted that approval from the House Majority Leader — that would be Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) — is also needed.

“This is not complicated. It’s not costly, or even precedent breaking,” said Huffman. “It simply allows us to expand our witnesses, beyond wealthy stakeholders and Beltway lobbyists, and to include the voices of underserved communities whose lives are impacted by a lot of the work we do on this committee.”

Virtual testimony from witnesses became common during the COVID-19 era, when the pandemic affected in-person gatherings. Westerman, however, said it was time to move on.

“I can tell you after suffering through COVID and all witnesses being remote, I’m a big fan of in-person witnesses,” said Westerman.

But Westerman acknowledged the existence of “special circumstances” in which virtual testimony might be necessary. So while Republicans rejected the proposed change to the rules, he said would take into account any requests made by members.

“Working in good faith, we will take those requests under consideration,” said Westerman.

During the organizational meeting, Westerman listed what he said were the committee’s achievements during the 118th Congress, when he also served as chair. He said more than 50 tribal witnesses appeared before the committee and its various subcommittees.

“Last Congress, we continued our efforts to highlight Native voices and work collaboratively with tribes and tribal organizations,” said Westerman.

“Receiving information from tribal leaders about the challenges they face and the successes they’ve had highlights how important it is for Congress to work with tribes to find solutions to address the most pressing needs in tribal communities,” added Westerman. “And again, I’ll say the work of this committee speaks for itself.”

Your Climate and Natural Resource warriors for the 119th Congress on @NRDems!

Excited to get to work on Water and Public Lands and work with Tribal Nations! pic.twitter.com/nu1rcMPqQz

— Rep. Melanie Stansbury (@Rep_Stansbury) January 22, 2025

According to Westerman, the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs held 16 tribal-related hearings during the last legislative session. And of the 23 tribal bills that passed through the committee, he said six were signed into law.

“These were bills supported by this committee in a bipartisan manner,” said Westerman.

According to the committee’s rules, the jurisdiction of the House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs is as follows:

The committee’s oversight plan further details the agenda for Indian Affairs during the 119th Congress. The document lists the following priorities:

The panel’s work also includes the House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. According to the oversight plan, its agenda includes the following:

Following the organizational meeting on Wednesday, the committee’s first hearing of the 119th Congress was held by the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. The subcommittee is now chaired by Hageman.

Full Committee Meeting — Consideration of Committee Rules, Authorization and Oversight Plan, and Staff Resolution (January 22, 2025)