The Navajo Nation has had four different attorneys general overseeing its Department of Justice within less than a year, and one of them has returned to that very office amid a politically tense time in Window Rock.
Colin Bradley was acting attorney general for less than three months. But the Navajo Nation Council wouldn’t confirm him. Citing concerns over “potential conflicts of interest,” they voted his appointment down 2-19 last Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee voted 0-12 against advancing his confirmation after members claimed Bradley failed to answer questions about the recent attempted firing of Controller Sean McCabe.
They also fixated on his previous work experience.
Prior to Bradley’s nomination, the former NNDOJ employee had most recently served as senior counsel at Zwillinger Wulkan. That Phoenix law firm is representing the Office of the President and Vice President in the ongoing ZenniHome investigation.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren has since tapped his own chief of staff, Kris Beecher, yet again. He’s now stepping back into that role, but this time around, Beecher pledges his second appointment should be more permanent.
“Whether it’s acting, whether I’m confirmed or etcetera, my plan is to continue to make sure that DOJ has a leader at the top spot,” Beecher told KJZZ. “My hope is to bring that stability for the rest of the administration and allow the Department of Justice to have one last leader for the end of this term.”
Despite his short stint beginning in August, Bradley still penned a pair of opinions tackling decades-old Diné legal disputes. One 13-page ruling argued that the tribe’s blood quantum requirement — a controversial way to determine tribal membership — “violates” the Navajo Bill of Rights.
In another 12-page filing, he also deemed the Diné Marriage Act “discriminatory,” calling for its “immediate repeal.” That two-decade-old law bars recognition of same-sex marriage across the 27,000-square-mile reservation.
But there’s debate whether his writings should be null and void.
Both decisions were submitted by Bradley a day before the council ousted him, but Beecher believes “there’s long-standing precedent that any of the opinions that you wish, still stand” — unless undone by the sitting attorney general.
Following the council’s recent vote, Nygren expressed he’s “deeply disappointed” in a statement, adding “this is exactly why so many of our best and brightest Navajo professionals hesitate to return home and serve the Nation.”
