More than $5.6 million in ARPA funds identified as expanded 2026 hardship program moves forward

WINDOW ROCK

The Office of the Controller has identified more than $5.6 million in remaining American Rescue Plan Act fiscal recovery funds for an expanded 2026 Hardship Assistance Program, Controller Sean McCabe said.

President Buu Nygren signed Executive Order No. 01-2026 on Jan. 13, directing Navajo Nation offices to begin implementing the program to provide financial relief to Diné families still facing economic hardship tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and rising living costs.

The executive order states that many Diné continue to struggle with higher food and fuel prices and lingering economic effects from the pandemic, particularly in rural communities where access to jobs, utilities and basic services remains limited. The hardship assistance program is intended to deliver direct support to households that meet eligibility requirements.

Under the order, the controller’s office is responsible for identifying and confirming available funding and reporting that information to the Office of the President and Vice President by Jan. 31. The controller’s office is also tasked with working alongside other Navajo Nation departments to develop eligibility criteria, application deadlines and the overall structure of the program.

McCabe said the funding picture is still evolving as financial reviews continue and more ARPA funds are identified.

“There’s more,” McCabe said on Jan. 23. “I presented my plan last Friday (Jan. 16, 2026).”

He added they’d be meeting again on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.

“We are meeting on it again Thursday after Council and it will be announced publicly,” he said.

Timeline, implementation plan

A comprehensive implementation plan is required to be completed by March 1. That plan will determine whether the hardship assistance program will be administered internally by the Navajo Nation or through an external contractor. Officials said the application system must be operational no later than June 1, when eligible Navajo citizens are expected to be able to apply.

The initial $5.6 million stems from prior Council action. In 2024, the Council approved Resolution CMY-28-24, which automatically redirected unspent fiscal recovery funds into a hardship assistance expenditure plan. A subsequent Council resolution identified more than $5.6 million available for hardship assistance, with additional ARPA funds now under review.

While specific payment amounts and eligibility requirements have not yet been announced, officials said those details will be finalized as part of the implementation process and released publicly ahead of the June launch.

Council questions on transparency, oversight

The renewed hardship effort comes amid broader debates within the Council over ARPA and Fiscal Recovery Fund oversight, public transparency and administrative capacity as federal spending deadlines approach.

On Dec. 17, 2024, Navajo Nation leaders pressed for clearer public communication and stronger tracking of ARPA and FRF dollars during a Council session that focused on how remaining funds could be redirected and how residents would be informed as hardship assistance amounts shift.

“At what point are we telling them? OK, this is how much is going into this hardship,” Delegate Cherilyn Yazzie asked, citing frustration among constituents seeking updates.

Yazzie said the hardship allocation was set at $5.6 million at the time, but warned the amount could increase, raising concerns about who would communicate funding changes to the public as reviews continued.

Speaker Crystalyne Curley said proposed legislation to move the Fiscal Recovery Fund office under the Office of the Controller was intended to improve accountability and transparency.

“The purpose of moving the FRF office underneath the controller, at least, it gives us the exact numbers of where these dollars are going,” Curley said.

Curley also emphasized the need for consistent public outreach, suggesting quarterly or monthly newsletters and radio announcements so residents could better follow how federal recovery dollars are being used.

McCabe told delegates that consolidating FRF oversight would strengthen monitoring of subrecipient agreements, which now account for a significant share of ARPA spending.

“There are a significant amount of money that we have at the Navajo Nation under ARPA that are currently tied into sub recipient agreements,” McCabe said.

He said the controller’s office would work with the FRF office to enhance subrecipient monitoring, pointing to major interagency and memorandum of agreement arrangements with entities such as the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and the Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority.

McCabe cautioned that effective oversight would require additional staffing and technical support.

“If we’re going to properly monitor sub recipient, monitor this money, we’re going to need either more people or consultants or something as well as project management,” he said in 2024.

He also said audit scrutiny will extend well beyond the current fiscal year.

“I’d be happy to go through the audit with you all at some point,” McCabe said, adding that ARPA-related audits will continue for several years. “We’re going to be spending this money into the first quarter of actually the first quarter of 2027, so we have about three more years of ARPA audits to make sure we’re in compliant with.”

On administrative costs, McCabe said the proposed framework would help avoid reliance on general fund dollars to operate federally funded programs.

“We built in a clause in the interagency agreement for each one of the projects mentioned that each division has the ability to charge those admin or project related costs to the amount of money that they were allocated, because Treasury allows that as well,” he said.

Delegate Shawna Ann Claw voiced support for moving the FRF office under the controller, while acknowledging the operational challenges.

“I am in support of moving the FRF office over to the Office of the Controller, because now I think there will be more accountability,” Claw said.

She noted that Treasury guidance requires recipients to assess whether expenditure plans or subrecipient agreements need modification to ensure all fiscal recovery funds are spent by federal deadlines.

Delegate Andy Nez urged McCabe to move quickly on stalled projects and pending agreements.

“This legislation provides additional responsibilities to the controller. My recommendation is just to strongly, you know, exert that authority to work and expedite some of the things that we’re working on,” Nez said.

Earlier hardship problems resurface

Council discussions also revisited earlier hardship assistance challenges.

In January 2022, then Acting Controller Elizabeth Begay described data and mailing problems that complicated hardship payments to seniors during the 2021-22 rounds.

“We found no (post office) box numbers on their address. Wrong city, or incorrect spelling of the city. And there’s duplicate CIBs, meaning there (are) people sharing the same CIB number, but (with) different names,” Begay said at the time.

She said staff received 16,000 change-of-address forms and hired temporary workers while reassigning regular staff to manage the backlog.

The current debate also echoes early ARPA planning discussions from January 2021, when then Speaker Seth Damon described the challenge of deploying nearly $2.1 billion in federal recovery funds.

“You’re looking at probably about $1.65 billion is going to be going towards projects,” Damon said in 2021, noting that hardship assistance was limited early on to allow time for planning and oversight.

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