Senate Committee on Indian Affairs takes up Native housing

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Leaders of the Cherokee Nation visit a construction site of a home for skilled workers on the reservation in Oklahoma on March 10, 2026. Photo: Anadisgoi / Cherokee Nation

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs takes up Indian housing

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Indianz.Com

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is returning to work by taking a closer look at housing needs in Native communities.

The committee is holding an oversight hearing and legislative hearing on Wednesday afternoon. Lawmakers and witnesses will focus on improving housing in American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities.

More specifically, the legislative hearing comes after the introduction of S.5354, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Modernization Act of 2026. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the Republican chair of the committee, introduced the bill on August 6 to update and reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, the federal law commonly known as NAHASDA.

Indian Country housing bill in limbo as self-determination law marks major anniversary

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

Indianz.Com

NAHASDA expired in September 2013 but Congress has failed to update it. Indian Country was also left out of a housing modernization bill that became law in July.

The oversight hearing and legislative hearing take place at 2:30pm Eastern in Room 628 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. A webcast is available at indian.senate.gov.

The witness list follows:

The Honorable Bryan Warner [PDF: Testimony]
Deputy Principal Chief
Cherokee Nation
Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Ms. Hilary Atkin [PDF: Testimony]
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American Programs
Office of Public and Indian Housing
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Washington, DC

Dr. Alicia Puente Cackley [PDF: Testimony]
Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment
Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC

The hearing is the committee’s first in Washington, D.C., since the U.S. Senate went on an extended break in early August. A roundtable on prediction markets took place on August 4 following by a business meeting on pending legislation on August 5.

During the August break, the committee hosted two roundtables in Hawaii. The August 26 session focused on housing while an August 27 session looked at the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the Democratic vice chair of the committee, is from Hawaii.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Notice

Oversight Hearing entitled, “Examining Housing Needs in Native Communities,” and Legislative Hearing to receive testimony on S. 5354, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Modernization Act of 2026 (September 16, 2026)