The Mohegan Tribe will be able to exercise greater control over economic development with federal approval of its HEARTH Act regulations.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approved the tribe’s residential leasing ordinance on March 18, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. The tribe will be able to enter into residential leases without going to the federal government for every agreement.

“With this approval, the Tribe is authorized to enter into residential leases without further Secretary of the Interior approval,” the March 25 notice states.

Congress passed the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act, also known as the HEARTH Act, in 2012. The law makes it easier for tribes to engage in economic development on their own lands by streamlining approval of agriculture, business, housing and other types of leases.

“The Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act of 2012 (HEARTH Act) offers a voluntary, more efficient land-leasing process for Tribes,” the BIA states on its website.

“Under the HEARTH Act, once Tribes’ governing Tribal leasing regulations are submitted to and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, they are authorized to negotiate and enter into surface leases under their approved HEARTH Act regulations without further approval from the Department of the Interior,” the BIA continues.

The approval for the Mohegan Tribe, based in Connecticut, marks the first HEARTH Act approval of the Donald Trump era. Since January 20, the new administration has put a hold on most regulatory activities across the federal government, including the BIA.

With President Trump in office, only a handful of substantive actions have been published by the BIA in the Federal Register. In total, only seven notices have been published by the agency in the last 65 days.

During the Joe Biden administration, the BIA approved HEARTH Act regulations for more than 50 tribes, according to the agency’s website. The most recent approvals came in August, November and December of 2024.

The HEARTH Act notice for the Mohegan Tribe was signed by Bryan Mercier, a career employee who serves as the director of the BIA. According to the document, he is “Exercising the delegated authority of the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.”

During the Biden era, HEARTH Act notices were signed by Bryan Newland, who was serving as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the time.

Trump has nominated nominated Billy Kirkland, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, a political post at the Department of the Interior. He has told associates that he doesn’t plan on relocating to the nation’s capital from his home in Georgia until the end of the current school year.

Secretary Doug Burgum, a former two-term governor of North Dakota, is leading Interior, the cabinet-level agency with the most trust and treaty responsibilities Indian Country. He has not publicly commented on Kirkland’s nomination.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has yet to announce a confirmation hearing for Kirkland, whose nomination was initially referred to the wrong legislative panel by the White House on February 3. Burgum otherwise is the sole Interior official who has been confirmed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was expected to issue a statement about Kirkland but has yet to do so. Her staff has reiterated that the nomination will be handled by the panel that she leads.

The Congressional database for Kirkland’s nomination has since been corrected to reflect that it has been referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

HEARTH Act Approval of Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, Residential Leasing Ordinance (March 25, 2025)