Council presses Navajo Nation over $24 million ZenniHome housing funds

The Navajo Nation Council is pressing for a full accounting of $24 million tied to ZenniHome housing contracts, while President Buu Nygren’s office says no money vanished and accuses Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley of building a false narrative. At the center of the fight is a question that hits McKinley County and nearby communities hard: how much of the housing money actually turned into homes, and how much got tied up in contracts, delays and political fallout?

During the Council’s spring session report on April 30, Controller Sean McCabe said his office could confirm a $23.5 million wire transfer to Indigenous Design Studio + Architecture LLC on Jan. 7, 2025. McCabe also said he was not aware of any ZenniHome homes being delivered. That answer deepened concerns for families still waiting on housing, especially after the project was promoted as a major effort to expand manufacturing at the former Navajo Generating Station site and bring new units to the Nation.

The dispute traces back to March 2024, when the Navajo Nation Office of the President said the Nation had awarded ZenniHome a $24 million American Rescue Plan Act grant. Nygren later said he terminated the grant after other communities within the Nation objected to how it was being used, but he has continued to say no money is missing. The Council says the larger issue is accountability, not just accounting. In a statement issued April 28, lawmakers said a special prosecutor filed a formal ethics complaint in November over possible ethics-law violations involving Executive Branch approval of contracts connected to Indigenous Design Studio + Architects and ZenniHome.

The project’s scale also shifted as the controversy spread. ZenniHome said the original plan called for 160 homes at a cost of $44 million, but the work order was cut on July 3, 2025 to 80 homes for $22 million. ZenniHome later said its LeChee, Arizona, factory closed and more than 200 workers were affected, with combined setbacks leading to more than $47 million in unrecoverable losses.

The Council escalated its oversight effort on July 13, 2025, when Budget and Finance Committee Chair Shaandiin Parrish introduced Legislation No. 0174-25 seeking hearings and subpoena power. Nygren then walked out during a July 24, 2025 Council address as lawmakers prepared to question him. By Feb. 11, 2026, Indigenous Design Studio + Architecture LLC had filed suit against ZenniHome in Maricopa County Superior Court, saying it received about $24 million from the Navajo Nation and subcontracted ZenniHome to build and deliver homes. A temporary restraining order remains in place blocking action on removal legislation against the president, leaving the broader housing and accountability fight unresolved.