TO: Indian Gaming Association Member Tribes

FROM: Ernest L. Stevens Jr., Chairman
Jason Giles, Executive Director

RE: ACTION NEEDED! OPM Slates Mass Terminations by 5:00pm ET TODAY 

Date: February 14, 2025

Last night, we learned the White House’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has directed agencies to begin the process of firing nearly all employees thatare still within their probationary period and perhaps others. Federal employees typically remain on a probationary period for one to two years after they have been hired. Approximately 200,000 employees are expected to be affected across the government.

We have also learned that agencies serving Tribes are not exempt from this directive with several thousand employees at agencies like the Indian Health Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, and the DOJ Office of Tribal Justice are slated to be terminated by 5:00 pm ET TODAY, February 14th.

As you know, these agencies already face workforce shortages that jeopardize the delivery of trust and treaty obligations across Indian Country. A reduction in workforce of this scale would hobble the federal government’s ability to deliver essential programs and services to Indian Country, including public safety, health care, education, and emergency management among others.

We urge Tribes to call Members of Congress and Administration political appointees and tell them to immediately exempt all federal positions serving Indian Country from any workforce reductions.

We have learned from inside sources that OPM’s planned firings today of employees that have worked at BIA and IHS for less than 2 years will hit these agencies hard with approximately 400 BIA employees and approximately 2700 IHS employees at risk.  These agencies are already severely understaffed, and it is extremely difficult to recruit folks to fill job vacancies in Indian Country. These firings would hobble BIA’s and IHS’s abilities to provide essential services and undermine the federal government’s treaty and trust responsibilities to all Tribes.

Although this information is still developing, one thing is clear: Indian Country cannot afford to allow this Administration to gut the delivery of its trust and treaty obligations to Tribes. The Indian Gaming Association is actively pushing back on this effort by relaying critical information to Congressional offices and we will continue to provide updates as they become available. 

Along those lines, we urge as many as possible to call your Members of Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Interior (DOI) request that the workforce in these agencies be protected.  In case helpful, we have included phone numbers to HHS and DOI below along with a generic template of talking points for you to refer to.

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Call Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.: 1-877-696-6775

We strongly oppose efforts to minimize the federal healthcare workforce.

It will negatively impact the Indian Health Service’s (IHS) ability to deliver health care. 

Diminishing the workforce at the IHS poses a grave threat to the vital medical services provided to American Indians and Alaska Natives – including emergency services, maternity care, and cancer treatments.

The IHS is already plagued by chronic underfunding and significant staffing shortages.

The federal government has a unique relationship with American Indians and Alaska Natives.

This relationship is grounded in a federal trust responsibility rooted in the United States Constitution, treaties, and countless federal laws and policies, has resulted in a protected legal status of Tribal Nations as political entities rather than a racial class.

The federal government acts as a trustee and has charged itself with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust towards Indian Tribes, and in doing so, has established programs and services necessary to fulfill its trust and treaty obligations.

Federal courts have consistently recognized this and upheld this distinct and legal political status, particularly regarding the provision of health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives.

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Call Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum: 202-208-3100

We strongly oppose efforts to minimize the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ workforce.

It will negatively impact BIA’s ability to fulfill its statutory and trust responsibilities of Indian Nations.

The BIA is already plagued by chronic underfunding and significant staffing shortages.

The federal government has a unique relationship with American Indians and Alaska Natives.

This relationship is grounded in a federal trust responsibility rooted in the United States Constitution, treaties, and countless federal laws and policies, has resulted in a protected legal status of Tribal Nations as political entities rather than a racial class.

The federal government acts as a trustee and has charged itself with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust towards Indian Tribes, and in doing so, has established programs and services necessary to fulfill its trust and treaty obligations.

Federal courts have consistently recognized this and upheld this distinct and legal political status.

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