Photo: Joe Campbell
As ordered by a federal judge, the Trump administration on May 26, 2020, submitted a status report about its efforts to distribute the rest of the $8 billion coronavirus relief fund promised to tribal governments.
Based on a sworn declaration submitted by a senior official at the Department of the Treasury, the efforts aren’t going so great. With just hours to go before a deadline to submit data, the vast majority of tribal nations had not done so, according go the affidavit.
“As of approximately 12:00pm Eastern Daylight Time today, May 26, 2020, 277 Tribes have submitted the requested data, while 470 have not yet done so,” Daniel Kowalski, the Counselor to Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, told the court.
“Of the 470 that not yet submitted data, 74 have logged into the portal and filled out some of the data and/or updated some of the requested forms but have not yet certified and submitted the data,” Kowalski continued.
According to Kowalski, tribes have experienced difficulties in compiling the employment and expenditure data that was asked of them barely a week ago. Since many offices are shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the information is not easily accessible, he told the court.
As a result, Treasury is considering a “short extension” of the 11:59:59pm Alaska time deadline, Kowalski said.
“Any extension will be posted to Treasury’s website and emailed to Tribes,” the declaration states.
Treasury is intending to use the employment and expenditure data to distribute the remaining $3.2 billion in the coronavirus relief fund that was promised to tribal governments more than eight weeks ago.
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