In the shadows of power: The letters that protected native rights

by Stan Fichtman, Politics Hawaii, April 30, 2025 

While much attention is paid to the federal judiciary as a check on executive overreach, another, quieter form of resistance plays out in letters—formal appeals from legislators that can shift federal interpretation and policy.

That’s exactly what happened in the case of recent executive orders targeting DEI initiatives and their potential impact on Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives.

Skipping to the punchline, after all of this quiet correspondence, it appears that Native Hawaiians will not be subject to new federal restrictions targeting DEI programs in schools.

So, how can this blogger say that with confidence? Well, there’s a story.

On January 20, 2025, the President, in issuing one of his first Executive Orders (EO) entitled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing”, states clearly in the text that the federal government, “shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

This language in this executive order sent shockwaves across the United States, specifically to nonprofits, academic programs, and social safety net providers serving specific communities. In short, language like this was seen as the end to any ability to obtain federal resources and permission to serve any one community, but to be one that only served everyone, regardless of race or creed.

The fear that this executive order placed on the nation got the attention ​U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Soon after this EO was issued, she fired off a letter, on Senate committee letterhead, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In the letter, Murkowski asked that OMB issue a memorandum stating that Indian tribes and their programs would not be adversely affected by recent executive orders on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and environmental justice. The letter further asked the OMB to issue a statement that, “includes a limitation that acknowledges that nothing in the order should be construed to affect activities that implement legal requirements independent of the EOs, including “the statutory authorities, treaty, and/or trust obligations of the Department and its Bureaus/Offices to Tribal nations and the Native Hawaiian Community.” (Emphasis added by blogger).

Murkowski wasn’t alone in this advocacy. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which she chairs, is also co-led by Hawai‘i’s senior senator, Democrat Brian Schatz, and publicly stated its concerns and its request for information.

When this blogger got word of this letter during a conference of Native Hawaiian educators on March 28, research started on the nature of this letter and what impact it would have. At the time, which happened around the beginning of April, there was no letter of response back from OMB on the matter.

Between the release of Senator Murkowski’s letter, dated February 6, and April 25, 2025 (we’ll get back to the significance of this date in a moment), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) did not respond to her request for a statement. Notably, by the time the letter was sent, three executive orders related to DEI had already been issued: the first on January 20, targeting federal DEI programs; the second on January 21, aimed at eliminating “unlawful” bias and promoting merit-based hiring; and the third on January 29, which sought to ban the teaching of gender ideology and critical race theory in K–12 education.

So with no word by March on the matter, and these EO’s being implemented by federal departments through “Dear Colleague” letters and policy memo’s, naturally, the Native Hawaiian communities were getting nervous. News reports would highlight Hawaiian nonprofit entities worried about the future, and what they would be able to support should federal funding end.

A signal of direction, though, did appear.

On April 25, the Department of Education issued a letter in response to a similar inquiry from the National Indian Education Association. It clarified that Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, and American Indian communities are not considered part of DEI or CRT categories. Crucially, Native history would not be treated as DEI content, shielding it from the administration’s punitive measures.

Considering that at the beginning of this administration’s service, now only 101 days ago, the narratives coming out said that Native Hawaiian issues would be seen as DEI-focused and therefore subject to the sanctions and penalties the administration was imposing on it, this clarification should come as good news to the Native Hawaiian community.

While the clarification ultimately came from a different source than Murkowski’s original inquiry, it validates the power of persistent, quiet advocacy. Even amidst the high-volume churn of the current administration, voices are still being heard—and sometimes, even heeded.

And while some could argue that this is a reversal by this administration, making the argument that anything outside of teaching or promoting an “American exceptionalism” that is wholly dependent on a homogenous, non-racial viewpoint of the United States is DEI and therefore now “illegal”, let’s chalk this development up, instead to “clearer heads prevailing” on the issue”.

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Politics Hawaii with Stan Fichtman is a recipient of a 2023 Hawaii Society of Professional Journalist award