Why It Matters
Cherokee Nation filed a Q3 2026 lobbying report through Steptoe LLP covering issues relating to tribal law. Separately, Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC (Powers Pyles) filed a 2026 new client registration for Cherokee Nation, and the firm is also listed among the tribe's registrants with a Q3 2026 fee of $10,000.
By the Numbers
Cherokee Nation's third-quarter 2026 filing through Steptoe LLP reports $120,000, bringing the tribe's total across all five registrants to $310,000 for the quarter, up $10,000 from its second-quarter 2026 total of $300,000.
The five registrants and their third-quarter 2026 fees:
- Steptoe LLP: $120,000
- Ragnar Group LLC: $90,000
- Cornerstone Government Affairs Inc.: $90,000
- Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC: $10,000
- DiNino Associates LLC: $0
The Steptoe filing lists two lobbyists: Leslie Belcher, managing director of government affairs and public policy, whose record lists member offices with Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK-4) and Rep. Wes Watkins (R-OK-3); and Matt Flynn, partner, whose record lists member experience with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).
Broader Context
The Steptoe filing names no legislation, but one pending bill touching tribal issues is H.R. 1723, introduced Feb. 27, 2025, by Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), with Rep. Cole among its original cosponsors, which would exclude tribes and tribal enterprises on tribal land from National Labor Relations Act employer requirements. The House committee reported it with an amendment on Jan. 16, placing it on the Union Calendar. The Senate companion, S. 1301, was introduced April 3, 2025, by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, where it remained pending as of the filing date, with eight listed cosponsors.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, led an oversight hearing on the Small Business Administration's Native 8(a) program, where she said the program "is a success story" and "was not based on race" but on "Congress's constitutional authority over Indian Affairs and a longstanding federal trust responsibility to Native peoples," while Sen. Markwayne Mullin questioned Chief Hoskin of Cherokee Nation about how federal contracting funds tribal government programs, saying that "rural northeast Oklahoma would hurt incredibly bad if suddenly contracting was sucked out of the economy."
The Bottom Line
The House committee reported H.R. 1723, the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2025, with an amendment on January 16 and the bill was placed on the Union Calendar, while its Senate companion, S. 1301, was pending in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs as of the filing date; the filing does not say Cherokee Nation lobbied on either bill. Powers Pyles' new client registration adds a fifth outside registrant to Cherokee Nation's lobbying roster.
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