Judge: Navajo Nation May Not Benefit From Being Silent About Funding Deadline

Mealey's (April 1, 2016, 2:29 PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navajo Nation is not entitled to more than $15 million in federal self-determination funding for 2014 based on a delay by the Department of the Interior (DOI) in making a decision on the funding amount because the tribe quietly stood by while a deadline passed knowing that the DOI was relying on a later deadline, a District of Columbia federal judge held March 30, invoking the doctrine of estoppel by silence (Navajo Nation v. Department of the Interior, et al., No. 14-1909, D. D.C.; 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42242)....