The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse houses both the federal court for the District of Columbia and the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
A federal judge will hold a status conference in Shawnee Tribe v. Yellen, formerly known as Shawnee Tribe v. Mnuchin, on February 25, 2021.
The hearing before Judge Amit P. Mehta takes place at 9am Eastern. The public can listen by dialing (877) 848-7030 and using access code 321 8747.
At issue in the case is whether the Shawnee Tribe, the Miccosukee Tribe and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation should receive additional COVID-19 relief from the the federal government. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a January 7 decision, already opened the door for such payments.
Mehta has been trying to figure out the next steps in the case as the tribes seek payments from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. He encouraged parties to engage in talks during a status hearing on February 17.
Looming over the dispute is litigation pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. A forthcoming decision in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and Alaska Native Village Corporation Association v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation “will impact the availability of funds for additional payments,” government attorneys warned in a February 15 status report.