Efforts to update an Indian housing law that expired more than a decade ago continue to face setbacks on Capitol Hill.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs was set to take testimony on a bill to reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) last Wednesday. But the legislative hearing was abruptly postponed not long before it was scheduled to start on July 22.

The postponement had nothing do with the substance of S.4276, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Modernization Act of 2026. Tribal advocates — some of whom still showed up to the committee room in the nation’s capital, not knowing about the last-minute change in schedule — nonetheless expressed disappointment with the latest delay in the long-running saga to update and improve NAHASDA, which expired in September 2013.

“While today’s hearing has been postponed, this does not diminish the meaningful momentum that has been built around NAHASDA reauthorization,” the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) said in a statement last Wednesday after the development.

“As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of NAHASDA, the scheduling of this hearing represented the first hearing on NAHASDA reauthorization in the 119th Congress and an important milestone toward advancing long-overdue modernization of this foundational Tribal housing law,” NAIHC said in reference to the law’s origin in 1996.

The committee has not yet said when it will take up NAHASDA. A hearing is taking place this Wednesday but the agenda focuses on tribal water rights settlements — not Indian housing.

That gives the committee just one more week to take up S.4276 before the U.S. Senate goes on a long break for the remainder of August. Members of the chamber aren’t expected to return to work in Washington, D.C., until after the Labor Day holiday weekend in early September.

But it looks like NAHASDA isn’t in the cards for now, as the committee instead plans to hold a roundtable on August 4 on prediction markets, an extremely contentious law and policy issue that affects tribes and their $46.2 billion gaming industry.

Even assuming the committee is able to hold a hearing on the NAHASDA reauthorization bill following the August recess, time is running out to get S.4276 over the finish line. The 119th Congress, which began in January 2025, is set to conclude at the end of the year — meaning Indian Country would have to start advocating for tribal housing needs all over again if lawmakers don’t take concrete action.

“Members of Congress are preparing to go on an extended recess break throughout the rest of July, August, and into September,” NAIHC observed last Wednesday.

“During this time, we encourage Tribal leaders, TDHEs, regional housing associations, and partners across Indian Country to continue advocating for the reauthorization and modernization of NAHASDA. Your voices and leadership remain essential as we work together to advance this historic legislation,” the largest Indian housing organization stated.

The setback comes after Indian Country was shut out of a bipartisan national housing bill that has been portrayed as bringing long-overdue reforms to homeownership in America. Republicans and Democrats alike championed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act but NAIHC noted that the legislation does not meaningfully address the needs of tribal nations, whose communities have long suffered from chronic underfunding despite the trust and treaty obligations of the United States.

“NAIHC supports the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and recognizes the potential benefits it could deliver for communities across the country,” Rudy Soto, the organization’s executive director, said on June 24.

“However, Tribal Nations continue to face some of the most severe housing shortages in America, and the legislation stops short of addressing the unique legal and administrative realities of Tribal housing programs,” added Soto, who is a citizen of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act itself traveled its own rocky road. Despite broad support in both chambers of the Republican-controlled Congress, President Donald Trump refused to show up to a signing of the bill at the U.S. Capitol on June 24.

Trump instead insisted that Congress take up a widely-panned voting and elections measure that tribes and their advocates are opposing. Speaking from the White House as Republicans were forced to scrap the signing ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, he dismissed the housing bill as unimportant.

“I’m not signing the housing bill. I want to see what happens with SAVE,” Trump said in the Oval Office, referring to the controversial voting measure known as the SAVE America Act.

“I made billions of dollars with housing,” added Trump, whose administration otherwise has not advanced a position on the reauthorization of NAHASDA beyond a general promise to work on the legislation. “I know housing better than anybody, maybe anywhere.”

“Secretary [Scott] Turner and I remain absolutely committed to working with Congress on reauthorizing NAHASDA”: Congress has failed to reauthorize #NAHASDA since 2013 as @HUDGov and @SecretaryTurner mark #NAHASDA30 milestone. @NCAI1944 @HUD_ONAP #DC pic.twitter.com/sUxuMJEjoy

— indianz.com (@indianz) February 10, 2026

The president’s demand, incidentally, came while the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs was advancing his agenda by taking up his pick to lead the Indian Health Service (IHS). On that same day, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the Republican chair, vowed to move quickly on the nomination of Mark Cruz to serve as director of the federal agency charged with delivering health care to more than 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

“I don’t usually say it before we’ve actually gone through the hearing process, but I am looking forward to supporting your nomination and and working with the vice chairman and our colleagues to move your nomination through the committee,” Murkowski said on June 24.

Despite the postponement of NAHASDA hearing amid Murkowski’s absence from Washington, D.C., the committee in fact went ahead with a business meeting to advance Cruz’s nomination last Wednesday. Tribal advocates are hoping the Senate will act before the upcoming recess to fill a leadership position at the IHS that has been vacant for more than 18 months.

“IHS needs a confirmed director,” Murkowski told Cruz, a citizen of the Klamath Tribes who currently serves as an adviser to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Murkowski introduced S.4276, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Modernization Act of 2026, on March 26. The bipartisan bill has the support of Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the Democratic vice chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and six other Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

“After thirteen years of expired authorization, Tribal Nations across Indian Country have never been more unified or more ready — and our message to Congress is clear: the time to reauthorize and modernize NAHASDA is now,” said Mark Macarro, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, the largest inter-tribal advocacy organization. “This legislation honors the legal federal trust responsibility while empowering Tribal Nations to govern themselves and build the homes their communities urgently need. NCAI and the Tribal leaders we represent are fully mobilized to support the House and Senate working together to find compromise.”

“Tribal Nations will not stop until Congress gets this done,” said Macarro, who also serves as chair of the Pechanga Band of Indians from California.

According to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the NAHASDA bill:

• Reauthorizes the Indian Housing Block Grant and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant through 2033 to provide long-term stability and certainty for Tribal housing and Native Hawaiian housing programs.
• Streamlines environmental reviews, reporting, and federal requirements to reduce delays and accelerate housing development in Tribal and Native Hawaiian communities.
• Expands eligibility and flexibility for Tribal Housing programs, including allowing increased income eligibility for homeownership and enabling pathways such as lease-to-own.
• Codifies the Tribal HUD-VASH program (Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing) and ensures dedicated resources for Native veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.
• Enhances Tribal self-determination by providing greater control over procurement, rent policies, program design, and use of funds.
• Enhances access to private financing by reauthorizing and improving Section 184 and 184A loan guarantee programs and expanding lender participation.
• Expands Tribal access to federal homelessness programs, including the Continuum of Care program and new Tribal and rural housing initiatives.
• Establishes targeted pilot and demonstration programs to provide housing assistance and supportive services for Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians experiencing homelessness.

“For nearly 30 years, NAHASDA has demonstrated that when Tribes are empowered to lead, communities succeed,” said Jacqueline Pata, the president and chief executive officer of Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, which serves the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, the largest tribal nation in Alaska.

Rep. Troy Downing (R-Montana) introduced the companion version of the NAHASDA bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 26 as well. H.R.8092 boasts nearly 50 co-sponsors in the Republican-led chamber.

“Many decades ago, the United States government made the commitment to tribes to help those who are living in Indian Country without adequate housing,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), who is the first Native person to chair the powerful House Committee on Appropriations. “Yet, the primary law that carries out this commitment has not been authorized since 2013 or updated since 2008.”

“As a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the longest serving Native American in the House, it is a priority of mine to ensure tribal nations are represented here in Congress,” said Cole.

As for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the bill became law on July 11 in spite of Trump’s ambivalence. While the Republican president refused to sign H.R.6644, he didn’t veto it either, so the legislation was enacted in the 119th Congress without his mark.

Homeownership is part of the American Dream, and that includes families in tribal communities.

Proud to have introduced the bipartisan NAHASDA Modernization Act to give tribes long-term certainty and more flexibility to meet local housing needs.

I’ll keep fighting to get it… https://t.co/fayAASkzBH

— Congressman Troy Downing (@RepTroyDowning) June 22, 2026

Downing serves on prominent House Committee on Financial Services, which the NAHASDA bill has been referred to. The Republican from Montana has acknowledged Indian Country’s omission from the larger national housing picture — he responded to NAIHC’s social media posts about the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with a promise.

“Homeownership is part of the American Dream, and that includes families in tribal communities,” Downing said on social media in response to NAIHC’s post on June 21.

“Proud to have introduced the bipartisan NAHASDA Modernization Act to give tribes long-term certainty and more flexibility to meet local housing needs,” Downing said of H.R.8092. “I’ll keep fighting to get it across the finish line.”

At midnight, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law — the most comprehensive federal housing legislation in decades, with 45+ provisions to boost housing supply and affordability nationwide.

But for Indian Country, the story is incomplete. The new law includes Tribes… pic.twitter.com/KkJzoPiIAj

— NAIHC (@naihc_national) July 11, 2026