A prolonged absence of leadership at the National Indian Gaming Commission has hindered tribal casino agreements and limited vital federal enforcement capabilities, leading to worries about regulatory control over a tribal gaming industry that achieved a historic $46 billion in revenue in 2025.
Since January, the three-member commission has lacked a chairperson, and President Donald Trump has yet to nominate a replacement. Essential enforcement powers are vested in the chair under federal law, which has prevented the agency from performing critical tasks such as certifying casino management agreements, sanctioning new tribal gambling regulations, citing specific legal infractions, and mandating emergency shutdowns of hazardous facilities.
The disruption is particularly impacting the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, which launched its Harrah’s-branded casino in Chandler this past April. Without a commission chair, the agreement for Harrah’s parent company to take over daily operations cannot be certified, which means tribal staff must manage the 175,000-square-foot casino while juggling other responsibilities related to budgets and community programs.
“This is disheartening. We’re incurring costs without receiving full value,” remarked Iowa Tribe Chairman Jacob Keyes in a report by the Associated Press.
The tribe sought this management deal primarily because it anticipated that the Harrah’s name would draw in patrons beyond the capacity of its current staff. On opening day, the casino faced capacity issues, with vehicles queued outside.
Approximately 250 tribal governments in 29 states run 545 gambling establishments. The revenue generated from casinos is utilized to finance healthcare, housing, education, and various tribal services, with tribal gaming revenue in 2025 reaching nearly threefold that of Nevada’s annual casino income.
The last enforcement action taken by the commission occurred on January 12, coinciding with the expiration of acting chairperson Sharon Avery’s term. Avery continues to serve as a commissioner. In typical years, the agency issues citations concerning unapproved casino sites, missing financial disclosures, misuse of gaming proceeds, and other infractions.
Former Acting Chairperson and current Commissioner Sharon Avery
Jonodev Chaudhuri, who led the NIGC from 2013 to 2019, expressed that the leadership void has severely limited the regulator’s effectiveness during a crucial period for the gaming sector. Steven Light, a tribal gaming law specialist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, informed AP that uncertainty surrounding regulations might deter investments and hinder business growth.
The vacancy coincides with an escalating conflict between tribal entities and online prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket. At least eight tribes have initiated lawsuits against these prediction-market platforms, accusing them of taking bets on tribal lands and in states where tribes possess exclusive gambling privileges, in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, an aspect the NIGC is accountable for enforcing.
Operators of prediction markets counter the allegations, asserting that users engage in futures trading, not gambling. Tribal leaders argue that these platforms could undermine gaming revenue and tribal sovereignty.
Former commission officials have also highlighted the absence of the chair’s customary advocacy role in Washington while federal authorities deliberate over the regulatory framework for prediction markets.
James Siva, head of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association and vice-chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, has questioned whether the Trump administration’s backing and business connections to the prediction-market sector are linked to the leadership vacancy.
The last Senate-confirmed chairperson served under the administration of former President Joe Biden without a successor being designated.
In April, Trump appointed Billy Kirkland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and a member of the Navajo Nation, to the commission, raising concerns among former officials regarding executive branch influence over an agency designed to function autonomously.