{"id":6129,"date":"2020-06-05T17:48:58","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T21:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/covid19\/?p=6129"},"modified":"2020-06-05T18:10:15","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T22:10:15","slug":"the-delay-must-end-cares-act-litigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/2020\/06\/05\/the-delay-must-end-cares-act-litigation\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The delay must end’: CARES Act Litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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)<\/p><\/div>\n

The tribal plaintiffs in Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Mnuchin<\/em> renewed their motion for a preliminary injunction<\/a> on June 5, 2020, calling for the distribution of the money remaining in the $8 billion coronavirus relief fund by an “immediate and definitive date.”<\/p>\n

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Title V of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act<\/a>, also known as the CARES Act<\/a>, required the Department of the Treasury to distribute the fund “not later than 30 days” after enactment of the law on March 27. Despite the deadline, tribes are still waiting on the full amount promised to their governments.<\/p>\n

“In continuing to delay in distributing all of the Title V funds for over two and a half times the amount of time allotted by Congress, the Defendant has egregiously and unreasonably delayed the performance of his duty in violation of Congress\u2019s explicit mandate and to the extreme detriment of Plaintiffs and other Tribal governments,” the motion reads<\/a> in reference to Secretary of the Treasury Steve Munchin, the defendant in the case.<\/p>\n

“Defendant\u2019s irresponsibility has real costs. Because of this delay, certain Plaintiff Tribes now have curtailed essential services and must make additional layoffs,” the motion<\/a> continues. “Indeed, the threat to the health and welfare of Plaintiffs\u2019 Tribal members in this ongoing health crisis is only compounding. And the longer Defendant delays in distributing all of the Title V funds, the greater the harm incurred by Plaintiffs will be.”<\/p>\n

“This is especially true since Plaintiff Tribes must expend any CARES Act funds by the end of the year,” the filing<\/a> concludes. “The delay must end.”<\/p>\n