Trump urges GOP to reject ‘casino’ bill backed by Warren

President Trump on Wednesday urged House Republicans to vote against a bill that would end a legal challenge to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s reservation in Massachusetts.

Critics of the legislation, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have dismissed it as a thinly veiled attempt to allow the tribe to build a casino.

{mosads}“Republicans shouldn’t vote for H.R. 312, a special interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas) Warren. It is unfair and doesn’t treat Native Americans equally!” Trump tweeted, deploying his oft-used derisive nickname against the senator, who is running for president in 2020.

Democratic leaders put the bill on a fast track for passage, allowing it to come to the floor on Wednesday under a suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority for it to clear the chamber.

The measure would terminate a years-long legal challenge to the tribe’s reservation by reaffirming the contested land belongs to it and barring future lawsuits challenging the claim.

A 2016 lawsuit brought by opponents of the tribe’s proposed casino resulted in the Department of Interior reversing plans to take 321 acres of land into custody on behalf of the tribe, according to The Cape Cod Times.

The proposed casino would be built by the Malaysian gaming conglomerate Genting.

Republican Rep. Paul Gosar (Ariz.) offered an amendment that would have banned a casino from being built on the land, but it was shot down in the House Natural Resources Committee.

Leaders in Rhode Island have also said a casino would cut into gaming business in their state.

Democrats have argued the bill protects land belonging to a Native American tribe that has long been interfered with by the U.S. government.