Navajo President Approves Budget, But Vetoes Funding for Housing, Healthcare, and Tribal Offices

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye has approved the tribe’s $622 million budget for fiscal year 2018, but he issued 26 line-item vetoes before doing so. The president cited concerns for fiscal responsibility as his reason for the vetoes. The Farmington Daily-Times reports Begaye vetoed $5.5 million intended for housing projects in all 110 of the nation’s chapters, nearly $4 million for the Phoenix Indian Center, a nonprofit serving urban Indians in Arizona, and more than $4 million for various tribal offices. In a release, Begaye said his administration has remained consistent in allocating monies to programs that support Navajo veterans, elders and youth, infrastructure and job creation.