Yellen v Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, (2021), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the classification of Alaska Native corporations (ANCs) for purposes of receiving funds set-aside for tribal governments under the CARES Act. In a 6–3 decision issued in June 2021, the Court ruled that ANCs were considered to be "Indian tribes" and were eligible to receive the set-aside funds.
Background.
Twelve Alaska Native corporations (ANCs) were established in the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act as for-profit corporations to operate businesses and services, often in the areas of oil and gas industry, to generate revenue that provides benefits to the Alaska Natives in the territories that they serve. This arrangement is unique to Alaska compared to native American tribes in the lower 48 states, where they operating their own tribal governments in recognized Indian reservations within federal law. Later, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (ISDA) assured that both native American tribal governments and ANCs were given the self-autonomy to operate as governments for their respective peoples.
With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act in March 2020. The bill provided $2.2 trillion in relief funding to businesses, of which $8 billion was earmarked for "tribal governments". The Treasury Department, in interpreting the law, opted to set aside about $500 million of the $8 billion earmarked for ANCs.
The Treasury's decision was challenged separately by three Native tribes: the Navajo Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. They asserted that the ANCs were not officially recognized as tribal governments under the language of ISDA, and thus were ineligible to receive any of the CARES funds. The Native tribes expressed concern that the amount of funds available to them would be diluted if the ANC set-aside were allowed to stand. The three suits were consolidated at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The district court ruled in favor of the Treasury Department, in that the ANCs could be considered tribal governments and eligible to receive CARES Act funds. The tribes appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which reversed the District Court's ruling. The Circuit Court ruled that as no ANC is federally recognized, compared to the tribal governments, they fail to qualify for the CARES Act funding.
