TAUNTON – A vote on a pair of bills related to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe were delayed in the U.S. House of Representatives after President Donald Trump tweeted his opposition, Politico reported Wednesday.
The bills would have paved the way to allow reservation land in Mashpee, Mass., and Taunton to be used for a $1 billion casino.
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The U.S. Department of the Interior transferred 151 acres within the city of Taunton and 170 acres of land in Mashpee into federal trust to benefit the tribe in September 2015.
In 2016, local residents challenged this designation and won. The tribe has sought to reverse the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young. The decision to withdraw had left plans to build a casino in Taunton in limbo.
The first of the two bills would reaffirm the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reservation as trust land, while the second would reaffirm the authority of the Interior secretary to take land into trust for tribes.
Trump’s stance appears to have lessened Republican support for the bills.
The votes have been rescheduled to next week. The bills originally had been planned to go through an expedited vote, which would require a two-thirds majority, but will now go through the regular process, requiring a simple majority.
Trump called for Republicans to not support the bill, tweeting that the legislation was a special interest bill for Elizabeth Warren, whom Trump has belittled for her Native American familial connections. Democrats accused the president of impropriety, pointing to his connection to Matthew Schlapp, husband of the White House director of strategic communications, who works as a lobbyist for Twin River Management Group, the company that operates the two casinos in Rhode Island.
Schlapp denied the connection had anything to do with the president’s decision, tweeting “My wife and I follow the law, and she had no role in my advocacy. The implication that this president marches to the beat of any drum other than his own is an absurd assertion.”
Rhode Island legislators long have spoken against the building of a casino in Taunton, arguing that the casino would hurt Rhode Island’s gaming revenue.
The Washington Post reported that Rep. James R. Langevin, D-R.I., supported the bill being pulled from the House, saying, “All I’m going to say is, I’m glad the bill was pulled from the floor today for a variety of reasons. I don’t know the president’s interest or reasoning completely. I’m not going to comment on that.”
