House Democratic leaders pulled two tribal bills from the House floor Tuesday following a tweet from President Trump calling one of them “unfair” to Native Americans.
The House had been scheduled to vote on legislation sponsored by Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., which would reaffirm the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reservation located in the town of Mashpee, Mass.
The tribe is hoping to build a $1 billion casino on the reservation but the deal has been held up by opponents, namely lawmakers in neighboring Rhode Island, who said the competition would cut into their own casino revenue, which is the largest source of funding in that state.
The Department of Interior is holding up the land use, prompting the Massachusetts delegation in Congress, including Trump nemesis and presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to push for passage of the legislation giving the tribe full control over the land.
[Related: Elizabeth Warren identified herself as American Indian on 1986 document]
Trump urged lawmakers to oppose the bill on Wednesday.
“Republicans shouldn’t vote for H.R. 312, a special interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas) Warren,” Trump tweeted. “It is unfair and doesn’t treat Native Americans equally!”
Democrats, who control the House floor, hoped to pass it under special rules limiting debate and requiring a two-thirds majority to pass.
But it was yanked from the schedule Wednesday along with legislation that would reaffirm the Interior Department’s authority to take land into trust for Indian tribes.
In an interview, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called Trump’s tweet “silly” and said he planned to bring up the measures again under rules that would require a simple majority vote.
It’s not clear why Trump tweeted opposition.
Matt Schlapp, head of the American Conservative Union and husband of White House communications director Mercedes Schlapp, runs a firm that lobbied against the casino, the Daily Beast reported.
Schlapp’s company represents one of the Rhode Island casinos.
