## Facts

- Congress enacted Title V of the CARES Act, appropriating $8 billion for COVID-19-related expenditures “to Tribal governments.”
- Title V defines “Tribal government” as the recognized governing body of an “Indian tribe” and incorporates the definition of “Indian tribe” from the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDA).
- ISDA’s definition of “Indian tribe” includes “any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation” established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), provided the entity is “recognized as eligible” for federal programs and services for Indians.
- The Department of the Treasury determined that Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) were eligible for Title V funding, consistent with the Department of the Interior’s longstanding view that ANCs may qualify as “Indian tribes” under ISDA.
- Federally recognized tribes sued, arguing ANCs are not “recognized” as tribes and therefore are ineligible for Title V funds.
- The district court granted summary judgment for the federal government and ANCs; the D.C. Circuit reversed, holding ANCs ineligible because they are not federally recognized tribes.
- The Supreme Court granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether ANCs are “Indian tribe[s]” under ISDA’s definition as incorporated into Title V of the CARES Act.
2. Whether the phrase “recognized as eligible for the special programs and services” requires federal tribal acknowledgment in the sovereign, government-to-government sense.
3. Whether interpreting “recognized as eligible” to exclude ANCs would improperly nullify ISDA’s express reference to ANCs.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the D.C. Circuit and remanded, holding (6–3) that ANCs are “Indian tribe[s]” under ISDA and therefore eligible for CARES Act Title V funding.
- The Court read ISDA’s text to expressly include ANCs, subject to a general “recognized as eligible” requirement that ANCs can satisfy through federal statutory treatment and program eligibility.
- The Court rejected the argument that “recognized as eligible” is a term of art limited to federally acknowledged sovereign tribes, reasoning that such a reading would make Congress’s explicit inclusion of ANCs ineffective.
- The Court noted longstanding Executive Branch practice treating ANCs as eligible under ISDA as confirming its reading.

## Legal Principles

- When Congress incorporates a statutory definition by reference, courts apply that definition according to its text and structure in the incorporated statute.
- Courts seek to give effect to all statutory words; interpretations that render an express statutory reference meaningless are disfavored.
- A statutory requirement that an entity be “recognized as eligible” for federal Indian programs does not necessarily impose a specialized federal-acknowledgment test absent clear textual adoption of that technical meaning.
- Longstanding, consistent agency interpretation and practice may support (though not replace) a text-based interpretation, particularly where Congress has legislated against that background.

## Conclusion

The Court held that ISDA’s definition of “Indian tribe” includes Alaska Native Corporations and that, because the CARES Act incorporated that definition, ANCs qualify as “Tribal governments” eligible to receive Title V tribal COVID-19 relief funds.


Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, 594 U.S. 338 (2021)