Following a Daily Beast article on the issue, the U.S. House of Representatives has pulled from its calendar a controversial piece of legislation with the single purpose of preventing a poor tribe in Arizona from opening up a casino.
Supporters of the effort had paid a record-breaking amount of money to lobbyists, and lawmakers were trying to bypass usual rules in order to have a fast-track vote on the matter.
The bill would have prevented the Tohono O'odham tribe from building a casino in the Glendale, Ariz. area, cutting off an antipated $100 million per year revenue source. The tribe, which is based elsewhere in the state, was permitted by Congress to purchase land near Glendale because thousands of acres of their land had been destroyed due to federal construction of a dam.
While the bill has been removed from the House calendar, it can be brought back at any time.
—Tim Mak