# 119-hr-741: Stronger Engagement for Indian Health Needs Act of 2025

119-hr-741, Stronger Engagement for Indian Health Needs Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Stanton, Greg [D-AZ-4] (D-AZ); status passed_house; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-741
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-741
- Congress: 119
- Title: Stronger Engagement for Indian Health Needs Act of 2025
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-01-28
- Sponsor: Rep. Stanton, Greg [D-AZ-4] (D-AZ)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Native Americans
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-11-01

## Summary

**Elevates the Indian Health Service's top leader to an Assistant Secretary within the Department of Health and Human Services.** This change recasts reporting, authority, and pay for the role and authorizes a Deputy and use of HHS staff. - Indian Health Service leadership: Replaces the Director with an Assistant Secretary for Indian Health who reports directly to the HHS Secretary and assumes the duties and authority formerly tied to the Director. - Staffing and authority: The Assistant Secretary may appoint a Deputy Assistant Secretary with the Secretary’s approval and may use Department officers and employees to administer Service activities. - Legal harmonization: Any federal law, executive order, rule, regulation, or document that refers to the Director of the Indian Health Service will be read as referring to the Assistant Secretary. - Federal pay changes: The position is moved into the Level IV pay band and the old Director pay listing is removed from Level V. - Funding: This section does not enact new appropriations.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Joyce, David P. [R-OH-14] (R-OH), 2025-01-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-03-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18] (D-CA), 2026-08-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Higher pay band for IHS leader: benefit, low. This bill would add the Assistant Secretary for Indian Health to Executive Schedule Level IV. It would remove the old "Director, Indian Health Service" listing from Level V. This would place the top IHS job in a higher federal pay band. The change would take effect upon enactment.
- New Assistant Secretary to lead Indian Health Service: benefit, low. This bill would replace the Indian Health Service Director with an Assistant Secretary for Indian Health at HHS. The Assistant Secretary would report directly to the HHS Secretary. With the Secretary’s approval, the Assistant Secretary would be allowed to appoint a Deputy and use Department staff t…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1004: Love Lives On Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2253: Puppy Protection Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-741 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/741)

## Related
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-1004: Love Lives On Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1004)
- [119-hr-2253: Puppy Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2253)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-741 (as of 2026-11-01).