Doug Burgum has yet to be confirmed as the new leader of the Department of the Interior but President Donald Trump has already dumped a hot-button issue onto his lap.

In a presidential memorandum on Thursday, Trump directed his incoming cabinet member to come up with a plan to extend federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Once confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, Burgum has less than 90 days to determine how to resolve a highly-contentious matter that has led to gridlock for Indian Country’s agenda.

“I love the Lumbee Tribe,” Trump said as he signed the directive at the White House.

Yet as he conferred with a member of his staff, Trump quickly revealed the limits of his love. After promising to “take care” of the Lumbees during his presidential campaign, he is unable himself to extend federal recognition to a group whose status has been in debate for more than a century.

Instead, he acknowledged that there is still more work to do for his Interior pick, whose agenda already includes high-priority items like energy development and campaign-promise ones like repudiating the Alaska Native language name of Denali, the highest peak in North America.

“So, this is their first big step, right?” Trump asked while seated at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

“This would be a huge step for them, sir,” responded Will Scharf, the Staff Secretary at the White House.

Even supporters of the Lumbee Tribe admitted they also have more work to do. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), an outspoken advocate for recognition, said it is still up to the U.S. Congress to take action.

“I remain committed to working with President Trump and the North Carolina Congressional Delegation in a bipartisan, bicameral manner to pass the Lumbee Fairness Act to ensure the Lumbee Tribe’s federal recognition is secure and free from legal obstacles,” Tillis said in a statement last Thursday.

Reinforcing the role of the legislative branch of the U.S. government, Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) added: “Today’s action underscores the urgent need to pass the Lumbee Fairness Act, which Senator Tillis and I reintroduced earlier this month.”

During a campaign stop in North Carolina on September 21, 2024, Trump in fact had promised to “sign legislation granting the great Lumbee Tribe the federal recognition that it deserves.” He said he would do so “right at the beginning” of his administration.

So while Trump took action of his own only four days after becoming the 47th president of the United States, there is no bill for him to sign. The 119th Congress, which began on January 3, 2025, has yet to advance any legislation regarding the status of the Lumbee Tribe.

“They were with me all the way,” Trump recalled on Thursday. “They were great — North Carolina. Lumbee Tribe.”

And the Lumbees are still with the president, even if federal recognition is not yet in hand. Chairman John Lowery hailed Trump’s memorandum as historic — while also agreeing that Congress should pass the Lumbee Fairness Act.

“This is a great step for the new administration and we encourage Congress to move forward with codifying this policy of President Trump toward full federal recognition of the Lumbee People,” Lowery said in a news release.

Trump’s directive noted that the U.S. House of Representatives, during the 118th legislative session, passed a bill to extend federal recognition to the Lumbees. The Lumbee Fairness Act was approved by a vote of 311 to 96 on December 17, 2024.

The memo, however, adds without explanation that “this legislation was not considered by the United States Senate before the end of the 118th Congress.” A fact sheet released by the White House does not offer additional information either.

But as the session came to a close, Tillis faced accusations — from a fellow Republican — that he was holding Indian Country’s legislative agenda “hostage” by blocking passage of other tribal bills in the U.S. Senate. Tillis readily admitted that he was doing so, as a means of retribution against those who have opposed federal recognition for the Lumbees.

Those opponents include the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, whose own tribal homelands bill also passed the House yet was not considered by the Senate either. In a statement, Principal Chief Michell Hicks stressed that the Lumbees must go through the federal recognition process at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which is part of the government agency that Burgum, who has earned bipartisan praise for building relationships with tribal nations, is charged with leading.

“We urge the Department of the Interior to ensure that due diligence and factual analysis guide their recommendations to President Trump,” said Hicks, whose tribe is headquartered in North Carolina. “Protecting the integrity of federal recognition is critical — not just for the American people but also for the hundreds of tribal nations whose sovereignty must not be put at risk.”

Burgum, who served eight years as governor of North Dakota, faced no questions about federal recognition during his confirmation hearing on January 16. But he repeatedly talked about the work he has done to ensure trust with the five tribal nations in his home state.

“State and tribal relationships in North Dakota have sometimes been challenged,” Burgum told the Republican-led Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. “But the current partnership is historically strong because we prioritize tribal engagement through mutual respect, open communication, collaboration, and a sincere willingness to listen.”

When asked more directly about dealing with tribes by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), who was the first woman to serve as chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Burgum elaborated on his approach.

“Well, tribal consultation to me as governor of North Dakota has meant actually spending time and going to the tribes, listening — sometimes listening for hours — to really understand what the issues are and then in getting to people ahead of time, and then working on things that are important,” said Burgum, who cited public safety and health care as areas of importance for Indian Country.

Burgum’s favorable record on tribal issues helped him win a bipartisan vote of 18 to 2 during a committee business meeting last Thursday, barely a few hours before Trump signed his presidential memorandum in the afternoon. The Senate could consider his nomination as Secretary of the Interior as soon as this week.

“I am particularly pleased at what Governor Burgum brings to the table with his relationships with our tribes,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is the new chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for the 119th Congress.

“The fact that the tribes in North Dakota have all come together in support of his nomination, I think is actually quite remarkable — particularly, considering some of the very contentious issues that they have faced in his state over the years,” added Murkowski, alluding to but not outright citing the heated dispute over the Dakota Access Pipeline that runs through the treaty territory of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

“I think that what I have heardm and what he has shared with me, is a great willingness to understand and to work through many of the challenges that our Native people bring,” said Murkowski, who stressed that a major component of the job as Secretary of the Interior is to “focus on our Indigenous people” due to the trust and treaty obligations of the United States.

But Trump’s memo reveals the perils already facing Burgum once confirmed to the cabinet. It states that the Secretary must engage in “consultation” about federal recognition for the Lumbees — but it only mentions doing so with the “leadership of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.”

The presidential directive also highlights two avenues for federal recognition that are out of Burgum’s hands. One such “legal pathway” is the method that Tillis, Budd and the Lumbee chair are endorsing — federal recognition through an “act of the Congress.”

Another option is “judicial action,” according to the memo. Since the BIA began reviewing petitions for federal acknowledgement in 1978, no group has been able to secure recognition as an Indian tribe through a court decision although several have tried.

The third and final avenue mentioned in Trump’s memo is recognition through “Procedures for Federal Acknowledgement of Indian Tribes set forth in 25 C.F.R. Part 83.” This is the process the Eastern Cherokee chief cited in his statement — and it’s the only one over which Burgum can exert some control.

The BIA, through its Office of Federal Acknowledgement, evaluates petitions submitted by groups seeking recognition. The Lumbees submitted such a petition in 1987 only to see the administration of then-president George H.W. Bush, a Republican, say it could not be considered because of a federal law commonly known as the Lumbee Act of 1956. The statute has been viewed as “terminating” or “forbidding” a federal relationship with the “Lumbee Indians of North Carolina.”

During the administration of then-president Barack Obama, a Democrat, the top legal official at Interior reversed course by issuing an opinion in 2016 which stated the the BIA could in fact review the Lumbee case. The leadership of the Lumbee Tribe, however, has instead focused on the Congressional route, foregoing the opportunity to resurrect or resubmit a petition over the last eight years.

That strategy helps explain why Trump is apparently unable to take action on his own to recognize the Lumbees as an Indian tribe. As the tribe’s news release pointed out, the Lumbees believe that the 1956 law “recognized” them but also “denied” them benefits and services provided to other tribal governments.

Under long-standing federal law and policy, only Congress can restore recognition to a tribe that has been subjected to some form of termination. Despite the apparent roadblock, Trump’s memo argues that there might be some way in which the “right to receive full Federal benefits” can be granted to the Lumbees.

“You’ll send them a copy of that?” Trump asked of his staffer after signing the memo.

“Yes, sir,” responded Scharf, who then offered up the idea of sending the pen Trump used at the White House to the Lumbees.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Trump said.

A day after signing the memo, Trump took his first trip as president. On Friday, he flew to North Carolina to assess the significant damage caused by Hurricane Helene last September.

“North Carolina has been treated very badly, so we’re stopping there,” said Trump, who was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump.

The president stopped in Asheville, located in the western part of North Carolina — only about an hour from the reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The tribe has developed a strong imprint in the city, with the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville bearing the name of the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, the tribe’s gaming enterprise.

And after Trump departed North Carolina to view wildfire damage in southern California, Eastern Cherokee leadership issued another statement. The fight to protect tribal sovereignty is far from over, they said.

“For generations, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has fought to defend our identity from being erased and from being stolen,” the statement from Chief Hicks, Vice Chief Alan Ensley and the tribal council read. “We have endured genocide and forced assimilation, yet we are still here.”

“Our history is meticulously documented, our traditions remain strong, and our identity is undeniable. Lumbees cannot say the same,” the Eastern Cherokee leaders said.