Montana tribe rips Trump administration over federal coal leasing

A Montana tribe this week blasted the Trump administration for seeking to overturn an Obama-era moratorium on federal coal leasing without consulting it, saying the move violated its treaty rights and would have major impacts on its land. The criticism from Northern Cheyenne President Rynalea Whiteman Pena, in a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on May 28, reflects ongoing tensions between Native American tribes and the Trump administration over its energy policy that first erupted over a North Dakota pipeline project in 2017.