**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 from Washington, D.C., impacting Indian Country.
Today marks the 33rd day of the federal government partial shutdown. This shutdown is likely to become the longest in U.S. history, potentially surpassing the previous record of 35 days, which occurred during the first Trump administration.
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### Mother Kuskokwim Statement Condemning Donlin Gold Project’s FAST-41 Designation
The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition strongly condemns the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s decision to add the Donlin Gold project to the FAST-41 list. This decision overlooks 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 caused by Typhoon Halong.
Fast-tracking the permitting process threatens vital environmental protections and silences Yukon-Kuskokwim communities that depend on healthy rivers for their survival. The Donlin Gold project endangers the Kuskokwim River and the communities sustained by it for millennia.
Concerns include an increase in residents’ utility bills by up to $265 a year, the production of massive cyanide-laden tailings, and the construction of a 316-mile gas pipeline through untouched lands—further jeopardizing already struggling salmon runs and subsistence resources.
Originally, FAST-41 was intended to streamline transportation infrastructure projects—not to fast-track controversial projects that fail environmental review.
While project sponsors claim to value community input, their rush to accelerate permitting despite unresolved issues demonstrates otherwise.
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### Medicare Enrollment is Open
Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15, 2025, through December 7, 2025. During this period, beneficiaries can review and update their Medicare coverage for 2026, including switching plans or updating prescription drug benefits.
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### Additional Updates
– **Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:** [Details forthcoming]
– **D.C. Briefs:** Recent news and developments impacting Indian Country.
– **US Presidents in Their Own Words Concerning American Indians:** Oral History Project announces its 14th stop in Portland, Oregon. The National Anthropological Botanical Society (NABS) continues gathering vital stories across Indian Country.
– **Time to Fall Back:** Remember to turn clocks back for the Sunday time change.
Stay tuned for further updates.
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/native-news-weekly-november-2-2025-d-c-briefs