President Obama eyes $2.4B budget for Bureau of Indian Affairs

Tuesday, March 4, 2014  

President Barack Obama released his fiscal year 2015 budget today and asked Congress to provide $2.4 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The amount represents only a small increase from 2014. But it marks a big improvement from 2013, when the BIA took a big hit.

However, the $2.4 billion for 2015 still falls below the $2.5 billion that went to the BIA in 2012 and the nearly $2.6 billion from 2011. The amounts show how sequestration and other budget constraints have put a major strain on the agency.

"The administration strongly supports the principle of tribal self-determination and improved outcomes across Indian Country with a $34 million increase over the 2014 enacted level for the Bureau of Indian Affairs," the White House Office of Management Budget said in a budget document for the Interior Department.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will discuss the budget on a conference call this afternoon. She will be joined by Michael Connor, the new deputy secretary at DOI who is the first Native American in the post, and Kevin Washburn, the head of the BIA.

The fiscal year 2015 budget documents can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Overview.

More detailed documents from DOI can be found at www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/2015/highlights/index.cfm