Politics

Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch has advised that the budget signed by Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye is legal, and with that his $659.7 million budget with its 17 line-item vetoes will be carried out.

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye countered accusations that he was off the Navajo Nation when he signed the FY2017 budget and lobbed some accusations of his own.

Navajo Nation Speaker LoRenzo Bates and the Navajo Nation Council say they are not going to sit back and let the comprehensive budget they approved be altered by Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, because they have reason to believe that his signature on the list of vetoes and the budget he signed is not legal.

For the second consecutive time the Navajo Nation Budget and Finance Committee did not second a motion that would open the floor up for discussion to approve a bill, that if passed would give a directive to Speaker LoRenzo Bates to request a complete audit of the Navajo Housing Authority.

The special prosecutors for the Navajo Nation late Wednesday released an update on the cases they have filed against former members of the Navajo Nation Council who have pled guilty or no contest to conspiracy in the mismanagement of tribal monies from the discretionary fund program.