Albuquerque Indian School Act of 2025

Download PDF
Bill ID: 119/hr/6162
Last Updated: July 22, 2026

Sponsored by

Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1]

ID: S001218

Follow the money

The bill

Albuquerque Indian School Act of 2025

HR. 6162, 119th Congress — read as touching Gambling & Sports Betting.

The sponsor

Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$94,500 raised

30 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

85% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Department of the Interior" section, p. 569-571 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Received in the Senate.

June 2, 2026

Introduced

Committee Review

Floor Action

Passed House

Senate Review

📍 Current Status

Next: Both chambers must agree on the same version of the bill.

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the 119th Congress. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The Albuquerque Indian School Act of 2025 is a thinly veiled attempt to transfer 9.89 acres of federal land into trust for the benefit of 19 Indian Pueblos in New Mexico. But don't be fooled – this bill has all the hallmarks of a classic case of "land-grab-itis," a disease characterized by the symptoms of bureaucratic obfuscation, cronyism, and a healthy dose of cynicism.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill proposes to transfer administrative jurisdiction over the federal land from the General Services Administration to the Secretary of the Interior, who will then take the land into trust for the 19 Pueblos. But what's really going on here? It's a cleverly crafted shell game, where the real beneficiaries are likely to be wealthy developers and corporate interests, not the Native American communities they claim to represent.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The 19 Indian Pueblos, the Secretary of the Interior, the General Services Administration, and various federal agencies will all be impacted by this bill. But let's not forget the real stakeholders: the lobbyists, special interest groups, and politicians who will reap the benefits of this land transfer. It's a classic case of "follow the money," where the trail leads to a web of corruption and deceit.

**Potential Impact & Implications:** The potential impact of this bill is staggering. By transferring federal land into trust, the government is essentially creating a new class of sovereign entities, exempt from federal taxation and regulation. It's a recipe for disaster, as these lands will become havens for tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit activities. And what about the environmental implications? The bill's provisions for "educational, health, cultural, business, and economic development" are nothing more than a Trojan horse for unchecked development and exploitation of natural resources.

In conclusion, the Albuquerque Indian School Act of 2025 is a masterclass in legislative deception, a cynical attempt to line the pockets of special interests while pretending to benefit Native American communities. It's a disease that requires immediate treatment – but don't hold your breath, folks. In the world of politics, this kind of corruption is just business as usual.

Related Topics

State & Local Government AffairsPublic Lands & Natural Resources
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$94,500
21 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$94,500
Committees
$0
Individuals
$0

No PAC contributions found

1
PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS
2 transactions
$6,600
2
PUEBLO OF SANDIA
2 transactions
$6,600
3
POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS
2 transactions
$6,600
4
FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRANTON RANCHERIA
2 transactions
$6,600
5
TULALIP TRIBES OF WASHINGTON
2 transactions
$6,600
6
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY
2 transactions
$6,600
7
AK-CHIN INDIAN COMMUNITY
2 transactions
$5,800
8
MESCALERO APACHE TRIBE
2 transactions
$5,800
9
PUEBLO OF ISLETA
2 transactions
$5,600
10
PECHANGA BAND OF LUISENO INDIANS
1 transaction
$3,300
11
PUEBLO OF SANTA ANA
1 transaction
$3,300
12
PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE
1 transaction
$3,300
13
AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS
1 transaction
$3,300
14
HABEMATOLEL POMO OF UPPER LAKE
1 transaction
$3,300
15
OHKAY OWINGEH
1 transaction
$3,300
16
OTOE MISSOURIA TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA
1 transaction
$3,300
17
PUEBLO OF LAGUNA
1 transaction
$3,300
18
CHEROKEE NATION
1 transaction
$3,300
19
SANTO DOMINGO PUEBLO
1 transaction
$3,000
20
TIGUA INDIAN RESERVATION
1 transaction
$2,500
21
TUNICA-BILOXI TRIBE OF LA
1 transaction
$2,500

No committee contributions found

No individual contributions found

Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance

This bill has 1 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.

Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3]

ID: L000273

Top Contributors

10

1
CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA
OrganizationDURANT, OK
$5,000
Jul 25, 2024
2
AK-CHIN INDIAN COMMUNITY
OrganizationMARICOPA, AZ
$3,300
Dec 30, 2023
3
CHEROKEE NATION
OrganizationTAHLEQUAH, OK
$3,300
Dec 18, 2023
4
CHEROKEE NATION
OrganizationTAHLEQUAH, OK
$3,300
Dec 18, 2023
5
MASHANTUCKET PEQUOT TRIBAL NATION
OrganizationMASHANTUCKET, CT
$3,300
Dec 19, 2023
6
OHKAY OWINGEH
OrganizationOHKAY OWINGEH, NM
$3,300
Dec 20, 2023
7
PUEBLO OF SANTO DOMINGO
OrganizationSANTO DOMINGO PUEBLO, NM
$3,300
Dec 18, 2023
8
SHINGLE SPRINGS BAND MIWOK INDIANS
OrganizationSHINGLE SPRINGS, CA
$3,300
Oct 12, 2023
9
SNOQUAIMIE TRIBE
OrganizationSNOQUALMIE, WA
$3,300
Oct 30, 2023
10
POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS
OrganizationATMORE, AL
$3,300
Mar 30, 2023

Donor Network - Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

Loading...

Showing 69 nodes and 33 connections (87 secondary connections hidden)

Total contributions: $106,100

Top Donors - Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1]

Showing top 21 donors by contribution amount

21 Orgs

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 1 harmed.

  • Section (i) explicitly prohibits the use of the transferred land for class II or class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.

Department of the Interior

Strong
Vector: 58%
Pages: 569-571AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill aligns with Project 2025's goal of restoring tribal sovereignty and self-determination by transferring federal land into trust for Indian Pueblos, supporting their control over land and resources, which directly addresses the policy's emphasis on fulfilling federal trust responsibilities and empowering tribal governments."

Key themes:tribal sovereigntyland into trustself-determinationfederal trust responsibilityresource control

— 536 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise 2. Engaging in real-time monitoring of operations. l Reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies by consolidating federal water working groups. l Implement actions identified in the Federal Action Plan for Improving Fore- casts of Water Availability,93 especially by adopting improvements related to: 1. Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations; and 2. Arial Snow Observation Systems. l Clarify the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act94 to ensure consistent application with other federal infrastructure loan programs under the Federal Credit Reform Act. This should be done to foster opportunities for locally led investment in water infrastructure. l Reinstate Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West.95 AMERICAN INDIANS AND U.S. TRUST RESPONSIBILITY The Biden Administration has breached its federal trust responsibilities to American Indians. This is unconscionable. Specifically, the Biden Administra- tion’s war on domestically available fossil fuels and mineral sources has been devastating. To wit: l The ability of American Indians and tribal governments to develop their abundant oil and gas resources has been severely hampered, depriving them of the revenue and profits to which they are entitled during a time of increasing worldwide energy prices, forcing American Indians—who are among the poorest Americans—to choose between food and fuel. l Indian nations with significant coal resources have some of the highest quality and cleanest-burning coal in the world, but the Biden Administration has sought to destroy the market for their coal by eliminating coal-fired electricity in the country and to prevent the transport of their coal for sale internationally. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration, at great public expense, artificially boosted the demand for electric vehicles, which, because of their remote locations, the absence of increased electricity demands for charging electric vehicles nearby, and the distances to be traveled, are not a choice for Indian communities. — 537 — Department of the Interior l A significant percentage of critical minerals needed by the United States is on Indian lands, but the Biden Administration has actively discouraged development of critical mineral mining projects on Indian lands rather than assisting in their advancement. l Despite Indian nations having primary responsibility for their lands and environment and responsibility for the safety of their communities, the Biden Administration is reversing efforts to put Indian nations in charge of environmental regulation on their own lands. Moreover, Biden Administration policies, including those of the DOI, have dis- proportionately impacted American Indians and Indian nations. l By its failure to secure the border, the Biden Administration has robbed Indian nations on or near the Mexican border of safe and secure communities while permitting them to be swamped by a tide of illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl. l When ending COVID protocols at Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools, Biden’s DOI failed to ensure an accurate accounting of students returning from school shutdowns, which presents a significant danger to the families that trust their children to that federal agency. l The BIE is not reporting student academic assessment data to ensure parents and the larger tribal communities know their children are learning and are receiving a quality education. The new Administration must take the following actions to fulfill the nation’s trust responsibilities to American Indians and Indian nations: l End the war on fossil fuels and domestically available minerals and facilitate their development on lands owned by Indians and Indian nations. l End federal mandates and subsidies of electric vehicles. l Restore the right of tribal governments to enforce environmental regulation on their lands. l Secure the nation’s border to protect the sovereignty and safety of tribal lands.

Department of the Interior

Moderate
Vector: 62%
Pages: 569-571AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill promotes tribal control over land and economic development, aligning with Project 2025's emphasis on tribal sovereignty and self‑determination, though it does not address mineral development, EV policies, border security, or BIE reforms highlighted in the policy."

Key themes:tribal land trusttribal self‑determinationeconomic developmenttribal sovereignty

— 537 — Department of the Interior l A significant percentage of critical minerals needed by the United States is on Indian lands, but the Biden Administration has actively discouraged development of critical mineral mining projects on Indian lands rather than assisting in their advancement. l Despite Indian nations having primary responsibility for their lands and environment and responsibility for the safety of their communities, the Biden Administration is reversing efforts to put Indian nations in charge of environmental regulation on their own lands. Moreover, Biden Administration policies, including those of the DOI, have dis- proportionately impacted American Indians and Indian nations. l By its failure to secure the border, the Biden Administration has robbed Indian nations on or near the Mexican border of safe and secure communities while permitting them to be swamped by a tide of illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl. l When ending COVID protocols at Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools, Biden’s DOI failed to ensure an accurate accounting of students returning from school shutdowns, which presents a significant danger to the families that trust their children to that federal agency. l The BIE is not reporting student academic assessment data to ensure parents and the larger tribal communities know their children are learning and are receiving a quality education. The new Administration must take the following actions to fulfill the nation’s trust responsibilities to American Indians and Indian nations: l End the war on fossil fuels and domestically available minerals and facilitate their development on lands owned by Indians and Indian nations. l End federal mandates and subsidies of electric vehicles. l Restore the right of tribal governments to enforce environmental regulation on their lands. l Secure the nation’s border to protect the sovereignty and safety of tribal lands. — 538 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Overhaul BIE schools to put parents and their children first. Finally, the new Administration should seek congressional reauthorization of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations,96 which provided a $1.9 bil- lion Trust Land Consolidation Fund to purchase fractional interests in trust or restricted land from willing sellers at fair market value, but which sunsets Novem- ber 24, 2022. New funds should come from the Great American Outdoors Act.97 AUTHOR’S NOTE: The preparation of this chapter was a collective enterprise of individuals involved in the 2025 Presidential Transition Project. All contributors to this chapter are listed at the front of this volume, but some deserve special mention. Kathleen Sgamma, Dan Kish, and Katie Tubb wrote the section on energy in its entirety. I received thoughtful, knowledgeable, and swift assistance from Aubrey Bettencourt, Mark Cruz, Lanny Erdos, Aurelia S. Giacometto, Casey Hammond, Jim Magagna, Chad Padgett, Jim Pond, Rob Roy Ramey II, Kyle E. Scherer, Tara Sweeney, John Tahsuda, Rob Wallace, and Gregory Zerzan. The author alone assumes responsibility for the content of this chapter; no views expressed herein should be attributed to any other individual.

Department of the Interior

Weak
Vector: 58%
Pages: 563-565AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill focuses on transferring federal land to New Mexico Pueblos for trust management and economic development, while the Project 2025 policy emphasizes revoking Public Land Orders in Alaska to unlock land for oil, minerals, and state control over resources. Both involve federal land transfers and tribal/state interests, but differ in geography, purpose (cultural/economic vs. resource extraction), and specific mechanisms."

Key themes:federal land transfertribal interestsland use policyDepartment of the Interiorresource development

— 530 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise Despite the passage of nearly 40 years since the end of the Reagan Adminis- tration, the federal government has yet to fulfill its statutory obligation to Alaska and Alaska Natives—specifically, each group has 5 million acres of entitlement remaining. Standing in the way are Public Land Orders (PLOs) issued by the BLM seizing that land for the agency. Those PLOs must be lifted to permit Alaska and Alaska Natives to select what was promised by Congress. For example, revocation of PLO 515057 will provide the state of Alaska 1.3 million acres of its remaining state entitlement. This revocation should be a top priority. BLM recommended this revocation in the 2006 report to Congress based on the Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act, and the Interior Secretary has authority to revoke based on the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act under section d(1).58 All other remaining BLM PLOs—all of which are more than 50 years old—should be revoked immediately. Alaska has untapped potential for increased oil production, which is important not just to the revitalization of the nation’s energy sector but is vital to the Alaskan economy. One-quarter of Alaska’s jobs are in the oil industry, and half of its overall economy depends on that industry. Without oil production, the Alaskan economy would be half its size. A new Administration must take the following actions immediately: l Approve the 2020 National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Integrated Activity Plan (NPRA-IAP) by resigning the Record of Decision. (Secretary Haaland’s order reverted to the 2013 IAP, the science for which is out of date, unlike the 2020 IAP.) l Reinstate the 2020 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by secretarial order and lift the suspension of the leases. l Approve the 2020 Willow EIS, the largest pending oil and gas projection in the United States in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and expand approval from three to five drilling pads.59 Minerals. Alaska is not just blessed with an abundance of oil, it has vast untapped mineral potential. Therefore, the new Administration must immedi- ately approve the Ambler Road Project60 across BLM-managed lands, pursuant to the Secretary’s authority under the ANILCA and based on the Final Envi- ronmental Impact Statement on the project.61 This will permit construction of a new 211-mile roadway on the south side of the Brooks Range, west from the Dalton Highway to the south bank of the Ambler River, and open the area only to mining-related industrial uses, providing high-paying jobs in an area known for unemployment. — 531 — Department of the Interior Wildlife and Waters. Throughout Alaska’s history, the federal government has treated Alaska as less than a sovereign state. This is especially the case when it comes to two of Alaska’s most valued resources, its wildlife and its waters. Immediate action is required to end, at least in part, this injustice. A new Admin- istration should: l Revoke National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules regarding predator control and bear baiting, which are matters for state regulation. Such revocation is permitted under the 2017 Congressional Review Act.62 l Recognize Alaska’s authority to manage fish and game on all federal lands in accordance with ANILCA as during the Reagan Administration, when each DOI agency in Alaska signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game ceding to the state the lead on fish and wildlife management matters.63 l Issue a secretarial order declaring navigable waters in Alaska to be owned by the state so that the lands beneath these waters belong to Alaska. This will force the BLM to prove that water is not navigable, since in the case of non-navigability, any submerged lands belong to the BLM. Currently, BLM requires Alaska to prove navigability at its own expense—including the BLM’s preposterous assertion that the mighty Yukon River is non-navigable. l Reinstate President Trump’s 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule64 for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, which was replaced by a Biden Roadless Rule that continues a 2001 Clinton rule affecting 9.37 million of the forest’s 16.7 million acres.65 The Clinton rule affects an area where communities are in small islands with no road access. It has prevented multiple infrastructure projects, including roads, electric transmission lines, and water and sewer projects, and it forces residents to use a heavily subsidized ferry system. Logging has been shut down to the extent that New York harvests more timber than does all of Alaska. OTHER ACTIONS The 30 by 30 Plan.66 President Biden’s Executive Order 14008 (30 by 30 plan)67 requires that the federal government, which already owns one-third of the country: (1) remove vast amounts of private property from productive use; and (2) end congressionally mandated uses of all federal land. The end result will be “total federal control of an additional 440 million acres of land or oceans in the U.S. by 2030.”68

Showing 3 of 5 policy matches

About These Correlations

Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.

Full Policy Text

Related Bills