The Lumbee Tribe has yet to receive a federal recognition report promised by President Donald Trump, who is now calling for major cuts in funding for Indian Country.

In an update shared on Friday, Lumbee Chairman John L. Lowery said the Department of the Interior completed the report more than two weeks ago. However, he revealed that he has not seen the document because he believes it is being held at the White House.

“I understand the report was completed ahead of the April 23rd deadline and sent over to the White House for review,” Lowery said in the May 9 message on social media. “It is my understanding that the report is currently in the White House Counsel Office which is a usual standard practice for documents before they are publicly released.”

“I do not know when it will be made public, but like many of you, I am anticipating the release of the report,” Lowery added. [PDF: May 9, 2025]

Three days after taking office on January 20, Trump ordered the Secretary of the Interior — a cabinet position that was vacant at the time — to come up with a “plan to assist the Lumbee Tribe in obtaining full Federal recognition through legislation or other available mechanisms, including the right to receive full Federal benefits.” The Republican president gave a deadline of 90 days, which fell on April 23, as Lowery indicated.

“I love the Lumbee Tribe,” Trump said as he signed a memorandum at the White House in his first week as the 47th president of the United States.

More than 100 days later, the Lumbee report and its contents remain unknown. But a spokesperson for Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who took office on February 1, confirmed that a “plan” has indeed been completed.

“The Department of the Interior has developed a plan in accordance with President Trump’s memorandum and will provide an update when appropriate,” the spokesperson told Indianz.Com.

The spokesperson did not indicate whether Burgum, a former two-term governor of North Dakota who has experience in tribal issues from his time there, contacted the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians about the unreleased plan. The Eastern Band is the only federally recognized tribe in North Carolina and its leaders has long expressed doubts, concerns and outright opposition to the Lumbees.

However, the Lumbee chairman told his citizens that Burgum’s department “did properly consult with us in a very professional and timely manner” during preparation of the federal recognition report.

“Once the report has been released, I will work to make it available for our Lumbee Citizens to read,” Lowery said.

Despite lacking a government-to-government relationship with the United States, the Lumbees are considered a tribal entity by the state of North Carolina. State status has led to the receipt of federal funds, such as millions of dollars from Indian housing programs that Trump is now asking Congress to cut as part of his fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.

“Overall, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina received more than $78 million awarded by 10 programs in six federal agencies during the 4-year period,” a report from the Government Accountability Office in 2012 stated.

But Trump is seeking to reduce funding for Native programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by a whopping $479 million, according to his May 2 request. That includes a proposal to outright eliminate housing grants for Native Hawaiians — who also lack federal recognition, just like the Lumbees.

“Consistent with similar Budget proposals eliminating housing programs, the Budget eliminates the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant,” the proposal reads. “The program has large balances and only one grantee, which would be more appropriately funded by the State of Hawaii.”

According to the GAO, which is seeking new members for its first-ever Tribal and Indigenous Advisory Council, federal funding for the Lumbees is heavily tied to Native programs at HUD. Almost all of the money received during the time period examined for the report came from the housing agency.

“Most of the funding (75 percent) awarded to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina was awarded by HUD’s Indian Housing Block Grants program,” the GAO said in the 2012 report.

Just a year ago this month, Lumbee Chairman Lowery excitedly shared news that the administration of then-president Joe Biden, a Democrat, was implementing a historic investment in Native funding at HUD. He said the Lumbee housing department would receive a record $28.7 million — representing an increase of $10 million — through a program now being threatened by Trump. [PDF: May 9, 2024]

“Upon our initial review of the president’s proposed budget, the Administration proposes cuts to key programs within HUD, including the IHBG Competitive Grants, and eliminates the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant (NHHBG),” Rudy Soto, the executive director of the National American Indian Housing Council said in a May 2 update to tribes.

“We continue to monitor proposed reductions to broader housing programs such as the CDBG and Healthy Homes the impact these proposed cuts would have on many of our partner organizations and the communities we serve,” said Soto, who is a citizen of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.

Soto pointed out that Congress “ultimately holds the power to set final funding levels through the appropriations process.” Yet Trump, since taking office, has repeatedly ignored, eliminated and reduced funding already allocated by the legislative branch of the federal government. His targets have included programs that are part of the trust and treaty obligations of the United States.

“Indian Country programs and funding are provided on the basis of our unique political status and are legally required by trust and treaty obligations and associated implementing statutes,” a coalition of tribal governments said in a February 21 letter to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner.

The Lumbees have been seeking federal recognition from the U.S. since the late 1800s. Over the decades, they have identified with and affiliated themselves with such diverse and divergent Indian groups as the Croatan, the Cherokee and the Tuscarora.

More recently, the Lumbees settled on a claim of being descended from the Cheraw people. They asserted the connection in testimony to Congress and in a petition for federal recognition that they submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1987. The BIA is part of the Department of the Interior (DOI), the government agency with the most trust and treaty responsibilities to tribes and their communities.

The BIA, however, never took action because the administration of then-president George H.W. Bush — a Republican — said a federal law commonly known as the Lumbee Act of 1956 barred consideration of the petition. The statute has been viewed as “terminating” or “forbidding” a federal relationship with the “Lumbee Indians of North Carolina.”

The administration of former president Barack Obama — a Democrat — reversed course, first by supporting legislative recognition for the Lumbees, a significant shift in federal policy. Additionally, the first Native person to serve as Solicitor at DOI issued a legal opinion in 2016 that cleared the way for the BIA to process a Lumbee petition.

Despite major developments in their favor, the Lumbees have pinned their hopes on securing recognition through federal legislation. In his message on Friday, Chairman Lowery reiterated the need for Congress to move forward with a bill known as the Lumbee Fairness Act.

“I look forward to working with congressional leaders on the next steps regarding the Lumbee Fairness Act,” Lowery said.

The Lumbee Fairness Act has been introduced as H.R.474 in the U.S. House of Representatives and S.107 in the U.S. Senate. Since the start of the 119th Congress in January, neither chamber has scheduled a hearing on the legislation or has indicated action on the bill. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans.