Nygren restores funds after veto fight
WINDOW ROCK
After weeks of political tension and dueling vetoes that rattled the Navajo Nation government, President Buu Nygren reversed course, restoring more than half a million dollars to the Legislative Branch budget days after cutting more than $6.6 million. The earlier cut stripped funding for nearly all 28 employees and drew sharp criticism from Speaker Crystalyne Curley.
“In the spirit of coming together, I have restored over half a million dollars to the Legislative Branch budget so that the Council can have its stipends, mileage reimbursement, Legislative District Assistants (LDAs), insurance and operations,” Nygren wrote in an Oct. 5 letter to Speaker Curley and the 25th Navajo Nation Council. “This amount is nearly twice the amount you gave to my office for operations.”
Nygren’s action came one day before the Office of the Speaker released a statement condemning his previous vetoes. On Oct. 6, Curley said the president’s decision to remove $6.6 million from the Legislative Branch “undermined the operations of the Navajo Nation government,” leaving the branch unable to pay 28 employees.
The Council approved legislation on Sept. 25 to restore $8.1 million for the Legislative Branch and $940,000 for the Judicial Branch. Nygren’s line-item vetoes then eliminated more than 93 percent of the Legislative Branch’s operating budget.
“President Nygren continues to neglect his fiduciary and legal responsibility to uphold the best interest of the Navajo Nation,” Curley said. “His irrational approach jeopardizes the stability of the Navajo government and harms employees and their families.”
The speaker’s office stated that Nygren approved only $236,000 for the 28 Legislative Branch employees while approving $5.2 million for 40 staff positions within the Office of the President and Vice President. The Council also approved nearly $300,000 in operational funding for the president’s office, which remains available for use.
To keep Legislative operations afloat, Curley introduced Legislation No. 0228-25 to reallocate personnel funds from the Office of the Speaker to temporarily pay the 28 positions that were left unfunded. She described the measure as a short-term step while the Council works on a long-term solution.
The speaker also said Nygren’s office budget has grown by more than 68 percent over three fiscal years, even as he continues to request an additional $1.5 million. She added that although Nygren has called the fiscal 2026 budget “flawed,” he has not provided performance-based data to support his request.
By contrast, Curley said the Council created a “data-driven budget” using a three-year average of expenditures and public input gathered during hearings across the Navajo Nation.
Nygren’s Oct. 5 letter struck a more conciliatory tone, calling the restoration a step toward fairness and collaboration. He said he heard the Council’s concerns about stipends and LDAs and restored funds “to an adequate level” so delegates can continue operating through the fiscal year.
“The salary of $25,000 for Delegates is too low and the Delegates rely on their stipends,” Nygren wrote. “I have restored funding to an adequate level to provide for stipends so the Council can ensure they have funding to operate for the entire fiscal year.”
Nygren said he restored funding for the Legislative District Assistants Program and provided enough for one month of staff pay, noting that the speaker was sponsoring a new legislation to fund the program for an additional month.
He said he remains concerned about budget shortfalls for Executive and Judicial Branch programs, including the Navajo Nation Courts, which he said were left with “zero to nearly zero dollars to operate.” Nygren said he will continue to use his line-item veto authority until all branches are “appropriately funded.”
“I informed her that I have no choice. I have to continue line-item vetoing the Council’s actions until the Executive Branch is appropriately funded,” Nygren wrote. “I am proud of my line-item vetoes of CS-44-25 because at least now the Judicial Branch is adequately funded.”
The fiscal 2026 Comprehensive Budget totals $603.7 million, with $524.1 million for the Executive Branch, $19.96 million for the Legislative Branch and $19.23 million for the Judicial Branch. Another $40.3 million covers fixed costs such as insurance, utilities and communications.
The restored funding allows the Council to keep meeting, traveling and paying staff as the new fiscal year begins. The political divide remains as the Council seeks to protect its operations, and the president continues to push for what he calls “equitable funding” across all branches.
“I am hopeful that the Council will take the appropriate action within two months so that I no longer have to line-item veto the Legislative Branch’s funding,” Nygren wrote. “The people deserve an adequate, balanced budget, and they deserve no less.”
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