Author: Donovan Quintero

We started the year reporting that Klee Benally had passed on. He was 48. He was the son of Jones and Berta Benally. He was from Dziłíjiin. The Naabik’íyáti Committee also recommended that the Navajo Nation Council override President Buu Nygren’s veto resolution that would approve virtual attendance at chapter meetings.

The American Relief Act, 2025, signed into law by President Joe Biden providing $1.7 trillion in federal funding to maintain government operations through March 2025, does not include the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement, or the Navajo Nation Rio San Jose Stream System Water Rights Settlement Agreement. 

In a scathing 232-page legal complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, the State of Arizona and its Medicaid agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, stand accused of enabling and funding one of the largest Medicaid fraud scandals in recent U.S. history. 

In a special session on Monday, the Council approved emergency legislation aimed at ensuring the timely obligation and expenditure of remaining funds from the Navajo Nation Fiscal Recovery Fund, or the NNFRF. This action comes as the tribe faces critical deadlines set by the U.S. Department of Treasury.