**Details By Native News Online Staff
November 02, 2025**
**WASHINGTON** – In addition to articles already covered by Native News Online, here is a roundup of other recent news released from Washington, D.C., that impacts Indian Country.
Today marks the 33rd day of the federal government partial shutdown. In all probability, this shutdown will become the longest in the country’s history, surpassing the 35-day record set during the first Trump administration.
—
### Mother Kuskokwim Statement Condemning Donlin Gold Project’s FAST-41 Designation
The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition condemns the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s decision to add the Donlin Gold project to the FAST-41 list. This decision disregards widespread opposition from Alaska Natives in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
The tribal coalition emphasizes that this action is especially inappropriate as regional tribes await federal agencies’ responses to court-identified permitting flaws and continue to recover from the devastation of Typhoon Halong. Fast-tracking the project threatens vital environmental protections and silences Yukon-Kuskokwim communities that rely on healthy rivers for survival.
The Donlin Gold project endangers the Kuskokwim River and the communities sustained by it for millennia. The project could raise residents’ utility bills by up to $265 per year, produce massive cyanide-laden tailings, and require a 316-mile gas pipeline through untouched lands—further jeopardizing already struggling salmon runs and subsistence resources.
Originally, FAST-41 was designed to streamline transportation infrastructure projects, not to push through controversial projects that fail environmental review. Despite claims from project sponsors to value community input, the rush to accelerate permitting despite unresolved issues suggests otherwise.
—
### Medicare Enrollment is Open
Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15, 2025, through December 7, 2025. During this period, beneficiaries can review and make changes to their Medicare coverage for 2026, including switching plans or updating prescription drug coverage.
—
### Additional Briefs from D.C.
– **One Big Beautiful Bill Act**: Updates on legislation impacting Indian Country.
– **U.S. Presidents in Their Own Words Concerning American Indians**: An oral history project announces its 14th stop in Portland, Oregon. The National American Indian Board Summit (NABS) continues to gather crucial stories across Indian Country.
– **Time to Fall Back**: Reminder to turn clocks back for the Sunday time change.
—
Stay tuned to Native News Online for ongoing updates from Washington, D.C. impacting Indigenous communities nationwide.
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/native-news-weekly-november-2-2025-d-c-briefs
