{"id":393598,"date":"2026-01-26T00:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T06:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=393598"},"modified":"2026-01-26T21:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T03:54:17","slug":"native-america-calling-federal-officials-take-aim-at-tribal-government-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/01\/26\/native-america-calling-federal-officials-take-aim-at-tribal-government-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"Native America Calling: Federal officials take aim at tribal government contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"card mb-2\">\r\n  <div class=\"row\">\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-4 align-self-center\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/nativeamericacalling.jpg\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"native america calling\"\/>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-8\">\r\n      <div class=\"card-body\">\r\n        <div class=\"h5-responsive card-title\">Native America Calling<\/div>\r\n        <div>\r\n           Listen to Native America Calling every weekday at 1pm Eastern.\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <div>\r\n          <!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\r\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1859-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3\">http:\/\/playerservices.streamtheworld.com\/api\/livestream-redirect\/NV1.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\r\n\t\t\tAlternate Links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nv1.org\/\">Native Voice One<\/a> |\r\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/\">NAC<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\"><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Monday, January 26, 2026<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/\"><i class=\"fas fa-link fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling.com<\/a>\r\n&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nativeamericacalling\/\"><i class=\"fab fa-instagram fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling<\/a>\r\n&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nativeamericacalling\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook fa-xs\"><\/i> nativeamericacalling<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Federal officials take aim at tribal government contracts\r\n<\/div>\r\n Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says he is <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/jW8kqqYNI34\">taking a \u201csledgehammer\u201d to a federal program that many tribes and tribal businesses rely on<\/a>. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Trump cabinet member is referring to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/federal-contracting\/contracting-assistance-programs\/8a-business-development-program\">Small Business Administration\u2019s 8(a) Business Development Program<\/a> that extends contract priorities to disadvantaged business owners. Hegseth uses words like \u201cfraud\u201d and \u201cscheme\u201d to describe what he says is an outdated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n The initiative  is part of an overall scrutiny of the program by the federal government. Hundreds of Native small businesses have accessed the program over the past 60 years, and some Alaska Native corporations have multi-million dollar contracts.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jW8kqqYNI34?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Secretary of War Pete Hegseth: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/jW8kqqYNI34>A &#8216;sledgehammer&#8217; to the 8(a) federal government contracting program<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Guests on Native America Calling<\/div>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jon-deacon-panamaroff-1208821\/\">Jon Panamaroff<\/a> (Native Village of Afognak), co-chair of the <a href=\"https:\/\/nativecontractors.org\">Native American Contractors Association<\/a> and chief executive officer of <a href=\"https:\/\/commandholdingspqt.com\">Command Holdings<\/a>, a tribal business corporation owned by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mptn-nsn.gov\/\">Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation<\/a>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nKevin Allis (Forest County Potawatomi), founder and president of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tbirdstrategic.com\/\">Thunderbird Strategic<\/a> and former chief executive officer of the <a href=\"https:\/\/ncai.org\/\">National Congress of American Indians<\/a>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nNick Grube, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/author\/ngrube\/\">investigative reporter at Honolulu Civil Beat<\/a>, a news site based in Hawaii\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/show\/4RE6juPYr7cl2Zsmb2zjq7?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"232\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">All Episodes on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4RE6juPYr7cl2Zsmb2zjq7?si=2a56e59533534bf9\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeamericacalling.com\/subscribe-to-podcast\/\">More Options<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<img src=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/27\/PeteHegseth.jpg width=0 height=0 class=invisible>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A government contracting program that tribes and Native businesses have relied on for decades is on the chopping block.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":393644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,20,13,1,14],"tags":[482,80,481,698,4022,218,243,1154,133,7063,5689,47,134,280],"class_list":["post-393598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-indian-trust","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-8a","tag-ancs","tag-contracting","tag-defense","tag-jon-panamaroff","tag-kevin-allis","tag-media","tag-naca","tag-native-america-calling","tag-nick-grube","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-race","tag-radio","tag-sba","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/27\/PeteHegseth.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-1Eom","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393598"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":393717,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393598\/revisions\/393717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}