To: U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held Mark Cruz's confirmation hearing on June 24, 2026. This petition is a letter of support to Chair Murkowski and Vice Chair Schatz urging the Committee to swiftly advance his nomination as the next Director of the Indian Health Service. Every signature joins the letter.
0 of 300 signatures
On June 1, 2026, the White House nominated Mark Cruz, a citizen of the Klamath Tribes, to serve as the 12th Director of the Indian Health Service. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held his confirmation hearing on June 24, 2026. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs2026-07-23 The nomination now awaits Committee action. This petition is the letter of support below — every signature added here joins it, urging the Committee to advance the nomination without delay.
Why this nomination matters
Cruz steps into an agency in crisis: a director’s chair vacant for 18 months, a ~30% workforce vacancy rate, and a funding gap tribes peg at $65 billion. His mandate: shift IHS from a paternalistic direct-service bureaucracy to an agency that funds, empowers, and gets out of the way of tribes running their own health systems.
- Self-determination at the center — the Indian Self-Determination Act guides every decision; tribes running their own programs becomes the default, not the exception
- Meaningful tribal consultation — government-to-government engagement before policy changes, not after
- Advance appropriations — insulate tribal health funding from shutdowns and budget brinkmanship
- Fully funded contract support costs — tribes that take over IHS programs aren’t penalized for exercising sovereignty
- Attack the ~30% vacancy rate — the largest hiring effort in agency history, plus Public Health Service officers to the hardest-hit facilities
- Regional realignment — restructure area offices for responsiveness and accountability to the tribes they serve
- Tribally designed care — clear the regulatory path for community-built responses and traditional practices
- A seat at the department table — as IHS Director and the Secretary’s Tribal Senior Advisor, carry tribal priorities into department-level budget decisions, including an already-backed ~$1B IHS increase
The Letter
The Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Chair
The Honorable Brian Schatz, Vice Chair
Committee on Indian Affairs
Hart Senate Office Building, SH–838
Washington, DC 20510
cc: Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
RE: Support for Mr. Mark Cruz to be the Director of the Indian Health Service
Dear Chair Murkowski, Vice Chair Schatz, and Members of the Committee:
On behalf of the undersigned, I am writing to express our strong support for the nomination of Mr. Mark Cruz (Klamath Tribes) to serve as the next Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS). Mr. Cruz possesses the exact leadership abilities and experience requisite to succeed in this role.
Throughout his career, Mr. Cruz has exhibited a deep commitment to Indian Country. His experience, technical expertise, and collaborative leadership make him exceptionally qualified for this position. Notably, in his current role as the first-ever Senior Advisor on Tribal Affairs in the Immediate Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Cruz has proven to be an invaluable asset in addressing Indian Country’s critical healthcare needs.
We strongly support this nomination and respectfully urge the Committee to swiftly advance Mr. Cruz’s nomination and to fill this critical role for IHS. Thank you for your leadership and consideration of this important appointment and all you do for Indian Country.
Sincerely,
The undersigned — each signature carries the signer’s printed name, official title, tribe or organization where applicable, and date signed.
About Mark Cruz
Mark Cruz is an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes and grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He began his professional career teaching on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University and a master’s degree from Brown University.
Since June 2025 he has served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services — a first-of-its-kind role focused on tribal health from the Immediate Office of the Secretary. In that post he has fought for $1 billion in funding resources to address the 33-year-old IHS construction backlog; was a critical advocate for the 11% IHS budget increase in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal, a recommendation that included full funding for contract support costs and Section 105(l) leases; worked tribal priorities into the 2026 Dietary Guidelines for Americans; and is leading the largest IHS hiring surge to date.
From 2018 to 2020, Mr. Cruz served at the U.S. Department of the Interior as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development and then Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, overseeing the Bureau of Indian Education, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Bureau of Trust Funds Administration, along with the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, the Office of Self-Governance, and the Office of Indian Gaming — working extensively on tribal infrastructure and standing up the 105(l) program. On Capitol Hill from 2013 to 2018, he served as a legislative fellow to Congressman Tom Cole (Chickasaw) and as chief of staff to Congressman Todd Rokita, playing a notable role in the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and twice leading House passage of the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act.
Watch the confirmation hearing
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs — nomination hearing for Mr. Mark Cruz, June 24, 2026. Played from the U.S. Senate’s official archived stream.
How signing works
This is an open petition: any registered member of the Institute may sign. Your captured signature — printed name, official title where applicable, and tribe or organization — fills the letter’s signature block. Signatures count toward the goal immediately. Your name and title are listed publicly only if you choose public display when signing; otherwise your signature is counted but never listed.
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