WASHINGTON - House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK), the first Native American to become chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, stood behind President Donald Trump on Wednesday for the signing of House Resolution 7148, the funding package that will keep the federal government open the rest of the fiscal year.
The legislation, which passed the House by a slim 217-214 vote on Tuesday, provides full-year funding for many federal departments, while placing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on a temporary 10-day extension while negotiations for changes to ICE take place.
“This is the best budget for Native Americans…ever,” Cole said from The Oval Office.
Cole noted in a later statement that the spending package preserves funding for NativeAmericans.Thelegislation dodges about $1 billion in proposed cuts to Indian Country and gives a boost to appropriations for Indian Health Services; a move intended to sustain tribal healthcare services even when the federal budget lapses.
“Months of bipartisan, bicameral work produced a final funding agreement, and the House stood by it. When that deal was altered at the last minute in the Senate and the government was disrupted, we didn’t walk away. Instead, we stepped up again. That is what responsible governance looks like,” Cole said.
Cole praised the new budget as a success, while Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation emphasized the importance for self-reliance in the face of federal uncertainty. Shortly after the government’s reopening, Hoskin announced an immediate raise in internal funding for Cherokee Tribal Programs along with the hiring of new field staff to assist Cherokee citizens.
“Cherokee Nation has always been a tribe built from the grassroots up, not the top down,” Hoskin said. “We don’t want to be at the mercy of the U.S. failure to ensure our people are safe.”
This contrast in perspectives highlights a widening divide between federal leaders, who are celebrating a return to “regular order,” and tribal leaders, whose views remain shaped by ongoing instability at the federal level, fueling concerns about the risk of future funding lapses.
Although the bill passed, members of the Oklahoma delegation were split. Cole, Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) supported the bill, while Rep. Josh Brecheen was the only Oklahoma Republican to vote against the final funding package. Brecheen,whoistypically opposed to deficit spending and temporary immigration fixes, did not issue a formal statement following the vote.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, during his final State of the State address on Monday, pointed to federal instability as the reason for his focus on state-level savings.
“Recent federal shutdowns and a $38 trillion federal debt show us that the federal government isn’t a reliable partner,” Stitt said. “Oklahomans are tired of the uncertainty. We have to keep our state budget flat and our savings full because we can’t rely on a federal system that shuts down every time there’s a disagreement in D.C.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson framed the reopening as a large-scale victory for the Republican agenda. Johnson claimed that the vote was an important milestone in reclaiming the “power of the purse.”
“We’ve now funded 11 of the 12 separate appropriations funding bills for the government for the year,” Johnson said. “And that’s a big achievement because it’s a big move towards regular order. This is something we promised and committed to — the biggest move towards that in many, many years.”
Johnson also gave credit to Trump for the reopening, in what he called a “play call” from the president, arguing that his political party was the backbone of the effort.
“Republicans got the job done. Our majority worked together, and we got the bills over the line. This proves that Republican policies achieve better outcomes for all of our constituents.”
Federal employees were directed to resume work on Wednesday. The Feb. 13 deadline remains the next hurdle for congressional leadership to jump, as negotiations regarding ICE take place for the next 10 days.
( EDITOR’S NOTE: Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net.)
