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Native America Calling
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Native America Calling: Bracing for the federal government shutdown grind
Thursday, October 2, 2025

Bracing for the federal government shutdown grind
Payments to tribes for federal contracts, Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement, food distribution to schools, and health care access could all be affected by the federal government shutdown.

The shutdown also has a significant effect on the 30,000 Native American federal employees and members of the military who may not be furloughed, but will not receive paychecks until the shutdown is over. This is the second government shutdown in the past decade; the previous one was the longest on record.

Tune in to get the Native perspective on what’s potentially in store as the shutdown progresses.

Department of the Interior
The Department of the Interior houses the central offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Guests on Native America Calling
Aaron Payment (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), tribal councilman and former chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan

A.C. Locklear (Lumbee), CEO of the National Indian Health Board

Mike Stopp (Cherokee and Muscogee), president and CEO of SevenStar Holdings, LLC, a business and management consulting firm in Oklahoma

Sue Parton (Kiowa), President of the Federation of Indian Service Employees, a union representing Indian employees of the federal government

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