DOGE cuts cost tribes $470M, gutting funding for climate projects
The cuts, compounded by the rollback of Inflation Reduction Act grants, deepen decades of federal underinvestment in Indian Country.
A $20 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency aimed at helping the Native Village of Kotzebue transition from diesel fuel to wind energy was abruptly canceled in May 2025 by the Trump administration. Kotzebue, Alaska, is only reachable by air or sea, and its inhabitants currently rely on diesel for 75 percent of their power, leaving them vulnerable to world market fluctuations.
The grant was part of a $150 million allocation for tribal infrastructure in Alaska, and it would have helped the community lower its dependence on diesel from 75 percent to around 40 to 50 percent, providing greater control over energy and economic decisions. The cancellation of the grant comes as part of a broader pattern of funding cuts and underinvestment in Indigenous communities, as detailed in two new reports from the Brookings Institution.
These reports reveal that over $468 million in funding, including $150 million for tribal projects, was eliminated from the budget, with a significant portion allocated to environmental and natural resources. The Brookings authors argue that this underinvestment violates the federal government's trust and treaty obligations to tribes and impedes their ability to address climate change and protect the environment.
Rob Maxim, a fellow at Brookings Metro and member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, emphasizes that climate and environmental funding is particularly crucial for Indigenous communities, as they often bear the brunt of climate change despite years of underinvestment. He stresses that the actions taken by the Trump administration are not an anomaly but indicative of a broader trend of underinvestment in tribal communities.
Maxim calls for policy changes to ensure tribes receive funding regardless of political shifts, stating that such funding is a federal obligation rooted in treaties and agreements with tribes. The White House and EPA have yet to comment on the cancellation of the grant for the wind energy project in Kotzebue.
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