Federal Watchdog for $46B Tribal Gambling Industry Can’t Enforce the Law Without a Chairperson

The federal agency responsible for policing a $46 billion tribal gambling industry has been without a chairperson since January, and the vacancy is starting to slow real business deals on the ground. The National Indian Gaming Commission’s inability to fill its top post has left the three-member body unable to carry out some of its most basic enforcement duties, including citing casinos for legal violations, approving new tribal gaming laws, and certifying management agreements between tribes and outside casino operators.

The gap is more than bureaucratic. Tribal casino revenue hit a record $46 billion in 2025, nearly triple what Nevada’s commercial casinos brought in over the same period, and roughly 250 tribal governments across 29 states rely on that money to fund healthcare, housing, and education. With no chairperson in place, the agency that oversees all of it is effectively running with its enforcement arm disabled.

A Stalled Deal in Oklahoma Shows the Real-World Cost

The clearest example of the fallout is playing out at the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma’s new Harrah’s-branded casino in Chandler, Oklahoma. The 175,000-square-foot property opened in April to lines of cars spilling out of the parking lot, according to tribal chairman Jacob Keyes, who said the Harrah’s name drove a surge in business the tribe hadn’t fully anticipated.

The plan was for Caesars Entertainment, Harrah’s parent company, to take over day-to-day management of the casino. That arrangement requires the gaming commission to certify the management agreement, a power that rests solely with the chairperson under federal law. Without anyone in that seat, the certification hasn’t happened, leaving the tribe’s small government staff to run the casino itself while still handling budgets and social programs.

“It’s discouraging. We’re paying a fee and not getting the full value,” Keyes said of the arrangement.

Enforcement Has Effectively Stopped

The commission was created in 1988 to regulate casino-style gambling and support economic development on tribal lands, and it now oversees 545 gambling facilities nationwide. In a typical year, it issues citations for issues like operating on unauthorized land, failing to submit financial statements, or misusing casino revenue. Its last enforcement action was issued January 12, the same day acting chairperson Sharon Avery’s term expired. She remains on the commission but without the authority the chair role carries.

Jonodev Chaudhuri, who chaired the commission from 2013 to 2019, said the agency is “operating with one arm tied behind its back.” Steven Light, a tribal gambling law expert at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, warned that the lack of enforcement power could discourage investment and slow business growth industry-wide, since “markets function best when there’s stability and certainty around processes and rules.”

Prediction Markets Add Urgency to the Vacancy

The timing has raised additional concern because the vacancy coincides with rapid growth in prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, which let users wager on outcomes ranging from sports to elections. Tribal leaders argue these platforms threaten their exclusive gambling rights and sovereignty. At least eight tribes have already sued prediction market operators, alleging they’ve accepted bets from tribal lands and in states where tribes hold exclusive gambling rights, in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which the commission is charged with enforcing.

Prediction market platforms counter that their products are futures trading rather than gambling and dispute claims that they’re skirting regulation, an argument BI has covered in its breakdown of prediction markets vs. sports betting. With no chairperson to serve as an industry advocate in Washington, tribal leaders say their side of that fight has gone largely unrepresented at the federal level.

James Siva, who leads the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, suggested the administration’s ties to the prediction markets industry could be a factor in the delayed nomination. “These things are happening in conjunction with each other,” Siva said in April. “It is not a coincidence by any means.” A White House spokesperson called the commission a “valued board” but did not indicate when a nomination would be made.

The leadership gap actually spans two administrations, since the commission’s last Senate-confirmed chairperson left the post under President Biden without a successor named. In April, the Trump administration appointed Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland to the commission, a move some former officials say raises independence concerns for an agency designed to operate outside direct executive influence. For now, tribes like the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma are left waiting, with expansion plans and management deals on hold until Washington fills the seat.