By Joyce Hanson

Law360 (April 30, 2020, 9:08 PM EDT) -- The Trump administration said it has reestablished the White House Council on Native American Affairs, launched originally seven years ago under an executive order signed by President Barack Obama, as it looks to help tribes respond to the COVID-19 crisis in Indian Country.

The White House on Tuesday joined U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt in announcing the reestablishment of the council that got its start under Obama's Executive Order 13647, signed in June 2013, which aims to respect Native American tribal sovereignty by formally recognizing tribes' government-to-government relationship with the United States.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the reestablished council will focus on interagency coordination of an Indian Country COVID-19 Response Team assembled by the White House in early March. The council also will help the Trump administration form policy priorities in Indian Country related to economic and workforce development, public health and safety, infrastructure and veterans affairs, the DOI said.

Tyler Fish, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, will serve as the council's executive director starting Monday, according to the DOI. Fish has been the tribal liaison for the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs since July.

Members of the Navajo Nation Council congratulated Fish on his appointment in a statement Tuesday.

"First and foremost, we thank the White House and the Department of the Interior for reestablishing the Council on Native American Affairs," Navajo Nation Council Speaker Seth Damon said. "With the appointment of Tyler Fish to lead this critical effort, we know the issues unique to Indian Country will continue to be well represented in the administration's priorities."

The council's reestablishment comes as the pandemic has caused turmoil between the federal government and tribes as the need for funds escalates.

On April 17, the National Congress of American Indians' CEO said the U.S. Department of the Treasury's decision to let Alaska Native corporations claim part of $8 billion in funding to fight the coronavirus outbreak took tribal leaders by surprise, as the attorneys who helped develop the law understood it to mean funding would be set aside only for federally recognized tribes.

The NCAI's Kevin J. Allis said he and other leaders of tribes and tribal organizations had spent the previous week pushing back against Treasury's plan to allow the 12 Alaska Native regional corporations and over 200 village corporations apply for funding, which Allis said could cost federally recognized tribes a major chunk of the $8 billion under the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

On April 27, a D.C. federal judge handed Native American tribes a win by preventing Treasury from sending any of the $8 billion to Alaska Native corporations. In granting an injunction to the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and about a dozen other federally recognized tribes, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta said that "presently, no ANC satisfies the definition of 'tribal government' under the CARES Act and therefore no ANC is eligible for any share of the $8 billion allocated by Congress for tribal governments."

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney said Tuesday that her agency supports the revived White House Council on Native American Affairs under Fish, which she said will help the Trump administration be more responsive to Indian Country.

"We are looking forward to partnering with Tyler, whose proven leadership and legacy of bridge building throughout the federal government is meaningful and beneficial for all of us in the administration, Indian Country and Alaska Native communities," Sweeney said in a statement.

--Additional reporting by Andrew Westney. Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.

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