Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress broad authority over federal agencies (Haskell). Congress controls federal funding and can restrict, condition, or eliminate appropriations for specific agency operations of programs. Congress can demand documentation, conduct site visits and compel testimony or compliance through subpoenas. Congress creates federal agencies, defines their specific powers and structures, and can pass new legislation to overturn, modify, or counteract unauthorized or disfavored agency actions. Article 1, Section 8 also gives Congress power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and with Indian tribes.
Under the separation of powers, Congress holds the primary responsibility to ensure that executive branch agencies faithfully execute the laws as written by the legislature, rather than exceeding their statutory delegations or usurping core lawmaking powers. Legislative oversight is necessary for self-governance, ensuring that public programs are properly discharged, taxpayer funds are spent lawfully, and bureaucratic actions remain responsive to the public’s elected representatives.
Congress and the U S Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) hands are not ‘tied as they have the constitutional authority, power, duty and responsibility to confront the Department of the Interior (DOI) to resolve the HLC accreditation crisis at Haskell Indian Nations University. Congress’s inertia compounds the daily trauma of Indian student beneficiaries at Haskell.
Public-Disclosure-Notice-Haskell-Indian-Nations-University.pdf
Indian beneficiaries at Haskell and Indian nations pay the price. Education is the cornerstone of congress’ law and policy of Indian Self-Determination. Congress recognizes Indian rights but do not enforce it.
Indian beneficiaries at Haskell are denied equal constitutional protection of the law as documented in HLC sanction findings placed against Haskell. The denial of equal rights and culturally relevant education for Indians is the basis for the Haskell Indian Nations University Improvement Act (S.2140/H.R.4085).
Congress and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) have both the authority and the duty to confront the Department of the Interior over the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC “Accredited on Notice” findings against Haskell Indian Nations University. The evidence is already in their hands. The crisis is already documented. The federal breach is already established. What is missing is execution of constitutional action and enforcement of Indian rights.
For more than a year, First Nations Journal has documented the widening gap between the severity of HLC’s accreditation findings and the silence from Congress and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA). That gap is now indefensible.
HLC’s “Accredited on Notice” sanction is not a warning about paperwork or procedural delays. It is a formal, public declaration that Haskell Indian Nations University is at risk of losing accreditation because of federal mismanagement. The accreditor’s findings describe failures in governance, oversight, staffing, financial controls, and institutional stability—failures that fall squarely within the Department of the Interior’s trust responsibility. The HLC sanction and findings make it clear Haskell’s situation, operation and maintenance is unsustainable.
Congress and SCIA already possess the evidence:
- They have the HLC findings.
- They have the federal audit trail.
- They have the U. S. House testimony describing Haskell as “severely dysfunctional”.
- They have the legal authority to intervene.
What they do not have is the willingness to confront the Department of the Interior.
Under federal law, Congress holds plenary authority over federal Indian education institutions. SCIA holds exclusive jurisdiction over oversight of the Department of the Interior’s Indian affairs programs. Together, they possess:
- Oversight power to investigate DOI’s failures
- Appropriations power to condition funding on corrective action
- Legislative power to restructure Haskell’s governance
- Trust responsibility to ensure Native students receive a functioning accredited
- institution
Congress and SCIA are not bystanders in this crisis. They are the only entities with the legal power to compel DOI to repair the damage documented by the Higher Learning Commission.
HLC’s findings are not ambiguous. They identify:
- Breakdown in federal governance
- Unstable leadership structures
- Non-compliance with accreditation standards
- Institutional conditions that threaten academic quality and student welfare
The U. S. House hearings reinforced this record, describing Haskell as “severely dysfunctional” under federal management. These findings are not speculative. They are not political. They are not contested. They are the accreditor’s official determination.
Congress and SCIA have everything they need to act—except the resolve to bring the gavel down.
The Department of the Interior has allowed Haskell’s deterioration for more than a decade. HLC has now validated what students, alumni, faculty, and Indian tribal leaders have said for years. DOI’s management is not merely inadequate—it is structurally incapable of meeting accreditation standards.
Congress and SCIA have a duty to confront this failure.
- Not to “monitor”
- Not to “review”
- Not to “await updates”
- To confront
Oversight without confrontation is not oversight. Silence in the face of accreditation failure is not leadership. Delay is not neutrality–it is complicity.
Haskell cannot survive another year of federal inaction.
- Congress and SCIA must intervene immediately to alleviate the Haskell Accreditation
- Crisis
- The evidence is in their hands
- The authority is theirs alone
- The duty is unavoidable
Accreditation cannot be preserved through hope. Trust responsibility cannot be fulfilled through silence.
It’s time—long overdue—for Congress and SCIA to bring the gavel down.
FIRST NATIONS JOURNAL
M’gwitch, 🪶
Steve Cadue
Kickapoo
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