Judge keeps Navajo housing contract investigation and subpoenas alive

A Navajo Nation judge kept the housing contract investigation moving, denying President Buu Nygren’s bid to block subpoenas and halt the Budget and Finance Committee’s inquiry. The ruling leaves public hearings in place and preserves a fast-moving fight over how the Navajo Nation handled housing money, contracts and financial controls.

Window Rock District Court Judge Malcolm Begay signed matching orders in two cases filed by Speaker Crystalyne Curley against Nygren, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the Controller. Begay denied Nygren’s request for a temporary restraining order, his effort to stop enforcement or implementation of the Special Prosecutor Amendment Act of 2010, and his motion to stay or quash subpoenas issued by the committee.

The decision means the Navajo Nation Budget and Finance Committee can continue examining whether housing contracts and related matters complied with tribal laws, regulations, rules and policies. Council records show the six-member committee oversees fiscal, financial, investment, contracting and audit policies, and Begay wrote that it was acting within its authority to prepare a written report for the Navajo Nation Council.

The hearings began June 8 after the committee adopted rules on May 13. On that first day, Nygren and Chief Legal Counsel Bidtah Becker did not appear after being subpoenaed to testify about housing contracts involving ZenniHome and Indigenous Design Studio + Architects. The hearing was set to examine procurement, contract performance, invoicing, payments, reporting requirements and legal compliance tied to those projects.

The financial stakes sharpened two days later when Controller Sean McCabe testified under oath that he refused instructions to override controls in an earlier attempt to send $24 million directly to ZenniHome. McCabe also warned that the Navajo Nation faced a significant risk of being forced to repay federal ARPA money. Council and media reporting have said the investigation centers on $24 million in federal COVID relief funds tied to the now-defunct ZenniHome housing project.

Nygren’s filing argued that the committee should be stopped while he challenged the 2010 law allowing a special prosecutor to be appointed, and his office has said no money went missing. But for families still waiting on housing solutions, the ruling keeps the focus on whether the Nation’s contracting and spending decisions were handled with the transparency the law requires. With the presidential primary moved to July 21, 2026, and voter registration closing June 11, the investigation is now part of a larger political test of accountability in Window Rock.