25 U.S.C. § 5387

Provisions relating to the Secretary

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(a) Mandatory provisions(1) Health status reportsCompacts or funding agreements negotiated between the Secretary and an Indian tribe shall include a provision that requires the Indian tribe to report on health status and service delivery—(A) to the extent such data is not otherwise available to the Secretary and specific funds for this purpose are provided by the Secretary under the funding agreement; and(B) if such reporting shall impose minimal burdens on the participating Indian tribe and such requirements are promulgated under section 5397 of this title.(2) Reassumption(A) In generalCompacts or funding agreements negotiated between the Secretary and an Indian tribe shall include a provision authorizing the Secretary to reassume operation of a program, service, function, or activity (or portions thereof) and associated funding if there is a specific finding relative to that program, service, function, or activity (or portion thereof) of—(i) imminent endangerment of the public health caused by an act or omission of the Indian tribe, and the imminent endangerment arises out of a failure to carry out the compact or funding agreement; or(ii) gross mismanagement with respect to funds transferred to a tribe by a compact or funding agreement, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Inspector General, as appropriate.(B) ProhibitionThe Secretary shall not reassume operation of a program, service, function, or activity (or portions thereof) unless—(i) the Secretary has first provided written notice and a hearing on the record to the Indian tribe; and(ii) the Indian tribe has not taken corrective action to remedy the imminent endangerment to public health or gross mismanagement.(C) Exception(i) In generalNotwithstanding subparagraph (B), the Secretary may, upon written notification to the Indian tribe, immediately reassume operation of a program, service, function, or activity (or portion thereof) if—(I) the Secretary makes a finding of imminent substantial and irreparable endangerment of the public health caused by an act or omission of the Indian tribe; and(II) the endangerment arises out of a failure to carry out the compact or funding agreement.(ii) Reassumption

If the Secretary reassumes operation of a program, service, function, or activity (or portion thereof) under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall provide the Indian tribe with a hearing on the record not later than 10 days after such reassumption.

(D) Hearings

In any hearing or appeal involving a decision to reassume operation of a program, service, function, or activity (or portion thereof), the Secretary shall have the burden of proof of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence the validity of the grounds for the reassumption.

(b) Final offer

In the event the Secretary and a participating Indian tribe are unable to agree, in whole or in part, on the terms of a compact or funding agreement (including funding levels), the Indian tribe may submit a final offer to the Secretary. Not more than 45 days after such submission, or within a longer time agreed upon by the Indian tribe, the Secretary shall review and make a determination with respect to such offer. In the absence of a timely rejection of the offer, in whole or in part, made in compliance with subsection (c) of this section, the offer shall be deemed agreed to by the Secretary.

(c) Rejection of final offers(1) In generalIf the Secretary rejects an offer made under subsection (b) of this section (or one or more provisions or funding levels in such offer), the Secretary shall provide—(A) a timely written notification to the Indian tribe that contains a specific finding that clearly demonstrates, or that is supported by a controlling legal authority, that—(i) the amount of funds proposed in the final offer exceeds the applicable funding level to which the Indian tribe is entitled under this subchapter;(ii) the program, function, service, or activity (or portion thereof) that is the subject of the final offer is an inherent Federal function that cannot legally be delegated to an Indian tribe;(iii) the Indian tribe cannot carry out the program, function, service, or activity (or portion thereof) in a manner that would not result in significant danger or risk to the public health; or(iv) the Indian tribe is not eligible to participate in self-governance under section 5383 of this title;(B) technical assistance to overcome the objections stated in the notification required by subparagraph (A);(C) the Indian tribe with a hearing on the record with the right to engage in full discovery relevant to any issue raised in the matter and the opportunity for appeal on the objections raised, except that the Indian tribe may, in lieu of filing such appeal, directly proceed to initiate an action in a Federal district court pursuant to section 5331(a) of this title; and(D) the Indian tribe with the option of entering into the severable portions of a final proposed compact or funding agreement, or provision thereof, (including a lesser funding amount, if any), that the Secretary did not reject, subject to any additional alterations necessary to conform the compact or funding agreement to the severed provisions.(2) Effect of exercising certain option

If an Indian tribe exercises the option specified in paragraph (1)(D), that Indian tribe shall retain the right to appeal the Secretary’s rejection under this section, and subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of that paragraph shall only apply to that portion of the proposed final compact, funding agreement, or provision thereof that was rejected by the Secretary.

(d) Burden of proof

With respect to any hearing or appeal or civil action conducted pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall have the burden of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence the validity of the grounds for rejecting the offer (or a provision thereof) made under subsection (b) of this section.

(e) Good faith

In the negotiation of compacts and funding agreements the Secretary shall at all times negotiate in good faith to maximize implementation of the self-governance policy. The Secretary shall carry out this subchapter in a manner that maximizes the policy of tribal self-governance, in a manner consistent with the purposes specified in section 3 of the Tribal Self-Governance Amendments of 2000.

(f) Savings

To the extent that programs, functions, services, or activities (or portions thereof) carried out by Indian tribes under this subchapter reduce the administrative or other responsibilities of the Secretary with respect to the operation of Indian programs and result in savings that have not otherwise been included in the amount of tribal shares and other funds determined under section 5388(c) of this title, the Secretary shall make such savings available to the Indian tribes, inter-tribal consortia, or tribal organizations for the provision of additional services to program beneficiaries in a manner equitable to directly served, contracted, and compacted programs.

(g) Trust responsibility

The Secretary is prohibited from waiving, modifying, or diminishing in any way the trust responsibility of the United States with respect to Indian tribes and individual Indians that exists under treaties, Executive orders, other laws, or court decisions.

(h) DecisionmakerA decision that constitutes final agency action and relates to an appeal within the Department of Health and Human Services conducted under subsection (c) of this section shall be made either—(1) by an official of the Department who holds a position at a higher organizational level within the Department than the level of the departmental agency in which the decision that is the subject of the appeal was made; or(2) by an administrative judge.(Pub. L. 93–638, title V, § 507, as added Pub. L. 106–260, § 4, Aug. 18, 2000, 114 Stat. 719.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Section 3 of the Tribal Self-Governance Amendments of 2000, referred to in subsec. (e), is section 3 of Pub. L. 106–260, which is set out as a note under section 5381 of this title.

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 458aaa–6 of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2017–2025 · leading case: Fort McDermitt Paiute & Shoshone Tribe v. Xavier Becerra, 6 F.4th 6 (D.C. Cir. 2021).

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Fort McDermitt Paiute & Shoshone Tribe v. Xavier Becerra, 6 F.4th 6 (D.C. Cir. 2021). · cites it 3× “25 U.S.C. § 5387 (b). IHS then has forty-five days to approve or reject the offer.”

Rancheria v. Hargan, 296 F. Supp. 3d 256 (D.C. Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “" 25 U.S.C. § 5387 ; Final Offer Letter [Dkt.”

Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Azar, 376 F. Supp. 3d 100 (D.C. Cir. 2019). · cites it 2× “The Act provides that the Secretary has the "burden of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence the validity of the grounds for rejecting [a tribe's] offer," 25 U.S.C. § 5387 (d), and it prohibits the Secretary from promulgating regulations except in specific…”

Fort McDermitt Paiute & Shoshone Tribe v. Price (D.D.C. 2018). · cites it 6× “” 25 U.S.C. § 5387 (b). It further specifies that IHS may reject “one or more .”

Jamestown S'klallam Tribe v. Azar (D.D.C. 2020). · cites it 6× “13-8 (Final Offer) at 3; see 25 U.S.C. § 5387 (b). IHS rejected that offer because it concluded under the ISDEAA that “the amount of funds proposed in the final offer .”

Fort McDermitt Paiute & Shoshone Tribe v. Price (D.D.C. 2019). · cites it 3× “” 25 U.S.C. § 5387 . And the Court has already concluded that the Act requires that it review IHS’s decision to reject the Tribe’s final offer de novo.”

Redding Rancheria v. Burwell (D.D.C. 2017). · cites it 2× “” 25 U.S.C. § 5387 ; Final Offer Letter [Dkt.”

Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. v. Mandregan (D.D.C. 2019). · cites it 2× “2014) (“Maniilaq I”), the court found that the tribal organization’s proposed lease of a clinic was included in the organization’s funding agreement by operation of law where the Secretary did not respond within the statutorily-mandated timeframe under 25 U.S.C. § 5387 (b), and…”

Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Azar (D.D.C. 2019). “See 25 U.S.C. § 5387 (d). At this point in the proceedings, the agency has not yet met that burden.”

Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians v. United States Dep't of Health & Human Servs. (D.D.C. 2024). “3d at 87 (quoting 25 U.S.C. § 5387 (d)). As for legal questions, the parties agree that the proper standard of review is de novo.”

Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Cmty. v. Azar (D.D.C. 2025). “25 U.S.C. § 5387 (d); see Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians v.”

Osage Nation v. United States Dep't of Interior (D.D.C. 2025). “IHS argued that SCF “never made the proposal” articulated in its “final offer,” and therefore the parties had never negotiated the proposal and never reached the 27 Plaintiff asserts that Section 5331(a) grants federal district courts jurisdiction “over any civil action or claim…”

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