Marketplace All-in-One When the government shuts down, tribal communities get the shaft
Oct 14, 2025
Savannah Peters, a Marketplace reporter specializing in tribal affairs, discusses the severe impacts of government shutdowns on tribal communities. She highlights how federal funding lapses leave tribes struggling, forcing them to cover essential services like food and healthcare. Savannah reflects on lessons from previous shutdowns, illustrating the dire consequences for vital programs. She emphasizes the need for advance appropriations and mandatory funding to uphold the government's obligations to tribal nations, a call to action for meaningful change.
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Tribes Prioritize Essential Services
- Tribal leaders prepared contingency plans and prioritized essential services like police, fire, and food distribution during the shutdown.
- Nonessential services like historic preservation and tourism often face cuts first when funding lapses.
2018 Shutdown Showed Real Risks
- During the 2018-2019 shutdown many tribes exhausted reserves and suspended services, causing bare shelves and deferred road maintenance.
- Indian Health Service clinics rationed care, delaying non-emergency procedures in communities with no alternate providers.
Tribal Capacity Varies Greatly
- Capacity to cover funding gaps varies widely across 574 federally recognized tribes based on size and economic diversification.
- Small tribes with limited revenue struggle much more to float programs during funding lapses.