Peggy Flanagan Wins Minnesota DFL Senate Primary, Could Become First Native Woman in Senate
Peggy Flanagan, an enrolled citizen of the White Earth Nation and Minnesota’s current Lieutenant Governor, won the Democratic primary to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Tina Smith (MN). Running under the Democratic-Farmer-Labor banner, she captured approximately 59 percent of the vote in a field of six candidates.
Flanagan is Ojibwe and a member of the Wolf Clan; her Ojibwe name is Gizhiiwewidamookwe, meaning “Speaks in a Loud and Clear Voice Woman.” As Lieutenant Governor, she was instrumental in creating the state’s first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office. If she wins the November general election against Republican nominee Michele Tafoya, she would become the first Native American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
DOJ Inspector General Finds Widespread Noncompliance with Savanna’s Act
The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report on July 29 finding significant shortfalls in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices’ compliance with the Savanna’s Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-165), a law to improve the federal response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) cases by requiring increased coordination among law enforcement agencies. The audit examined 49 U.S. Attorneys’ Office districts with Indian Country oversight.
The OIG found that 10 of the 49 districts failed to fully comply with Section 5 of Savanna’s Act, which directed each U.S. Attorney to develop “regionally appropriate guidelines” tailored to their district for handling MMIP cases. The report also identified serious staffing problems in the MMIP Regional Outreach Program, which places attorneys and coordinators across the country to prevent and respond to MMIP cases: as of February 2026, the program had a 40 percent vacancy rate. The OIG attributed the staffing crisis to budgetary constraints, the 2025 federal hiring freeze, and leadership turnover within U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.
A third area of concern was the absence of a standard definition of MMIP or performance metrics to measure the program’s effectiveness, creating inconsistent implementation across regions. The OIG made recommendations to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) to address these gaps. Native News Online reported on the findings, noting that the report underscores longstanding concerns from tribal advocates about the pace and consistency of the law’s implementation. The OIG report emphasizes that federal efforts to address the MMIP crisis have often been slow, underfunded, and disjointed. FCNL supports legislation that would empower Native communities in this area.
Fort Mojave and Chemehuevi Tribes Sue Interior Over Mojave Desert Groundwater Project
The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, joined by the Native American Land Conservancy (NALC) and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), filed a federal lawsuit on July 28 challenging the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) approval of the Cadiz Project.
The Cadiz Project would pump more than 50,000 acre-feet of water per year for 50 years from an aquifer system beneath the Mojave National Monument. U.S. Geological Survey estimates indicate the extraction rate would exceed the aquifer’s natural recharge rate by up to 25 times. The DOI approved a new grant for the project on July 8, 2026, reviving a proposal that had previously been struck down by a federal court in 2022 after an earlier legal challenge by the NALC and NPCA.
The tribes argue that DOI violated multiple federal laws and regulations, failed to conduct required environmental reviews, and disregarded tribal consultation processes. Fort Mojave Chairman Timothy Williams stated that the project would “desecrate our traditional territories.” The lawsuit also raises broader concerns about water security across the American Southwest, where Colorado River shortages have already strained communities and agriculture.
U.S. Forest Service Proposes End to Roadless Rule
On August 20, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) published a proposed rule to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which currently prohibits road construction and commercial logging across 58.5 million acres of roadless areas within national forests. Although the USDA framed the move as necessary to reduce wildfire risk and expand timber access, tribes and conservation groups pushed back, arguing the rule’s removal would fragment wildlife habitat, threaten clean water supplies, and ultimately worsen — not improve — fire conditions. These roadless areas often include ancestral and treaty-protected lands, but USFS is proceeding without required tribal consultation. The public comment period runs through September 21, 2026 - make your voice heard.
