WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation government is facing one of its most dramatic leadership crises in years, as both branches of Tribal government and the Navajo People take action against President Buu Nygren and Vice President Richelle Montoya.
On November 21, 2025, President Nygren was formally served with an ethics complaint in Window Rock District Court, while on the same day, the Navajo Nation Council introduced a sweeping removal resolution targeting both executive leaders for alleged misconduct and breaches of duty.
The 14-page ethics complaint, filed by Special Prosecutor Kyle T. Nayback, accuses Nygren of violating the Nation’s Ethics in Government Law through four counts of misconduct between January 2023 and May 2025. The document alleges misuse of government purchase cards to pay for family travel expenses, falsification of travel records, and use of official staff for personal domestic work. It also claims Nygren hired his father-in-law, John Blackwater Jr., to a political at-will position despite lacking the required qualifications and then altered records to conceal their relationship.
Nayback, appointed by the Navajo Nation Department of Justice to investigate ethics violations by high-ranking officials, is asking the court to remove Nygren from office, impose a five-year ban on holding public employment, and order forfeiture of up to one year of salary and restitution for any misused funds. The summons gives Nygren 30 days to file a written response.
While the judicial branch now moves forward with the ethics case, the legislative branch is pursuing its own course. Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley sponsored a resolution that cites more than a dozen alleged violations of Navajo law, including missed State-of-the-Nation reports, unauthorized appointments, and improper handling of housing and relief funds. The measure argues that Nygren and Montoya “failed to uphold their oaths of office and brought disharmony” to tribal government.
Nygren has characterized the investigation and resolution as a “political takeover,” accusing Speaker Curley of trying to “seize control” of the presidency.
“It’s disgraceful that Speaker Curley has aligned herself with those who spearheaded the failed recall effort against me. She is simply wanting to take for herself the Navajo Presidency,” Nygren said.
Curley rejected the accusation, stating that the Council’s duty is to protect public trust and ensure accountability.
In a sharp public break from the president, Vice President Montoya released her own statement saying she had been “intentionally sidelined” and excluded from significant policy discussions. “I had no involvement in the decisions or actions associated with President Nygren,” she said, emphasizing that she is “responsible for [her] own actions.”
Under Navajo law, the removal resolution must remain posted for five days of public comment before advancing to the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and ultimately to the full Council, where a two-thirds vote would be required to remove either official.
The simultaneous court case and legislative process place both leaders under extraordinary scrutiny, marking the first time in recent history that the Navajo Nation’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches have been locked in concurrent proceedings over alleged ethical and constitutional violations. The outcome could reshape the Nation’s political balance and determine who leads Tribal government heading into 2026.
