A California-based Native American tribe that publicly opposes President Donald Trump and pours donations into Democratic campaigns has quietly collected nearly $30 million in taxpayer-funded grants—even as its members enjoy a lavish lifestyle funded by one of the largest casinos in America.
The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, operators of the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, has received approximately $28 million in federal grants since 1996, including over $13 million from the Department of Health and Human Services and nearly $7 million from the Environmental Protection Agency. Most of the money has come in recent years—well after the casino began generating nearly half a billion dollars in annual revenue.
Despite this financial windfall, tribal leaders—many living in million-dollar homes—have remained politically active, openly backing Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton while attacking Trump and conservative Americans. Pechanga chairman Mark Macarro has donated thousands to Democrats and even met with Biden aboard Air Force One to lobby for the clemency of Leonard Peltier, a convicted cop-killer and radical activist. Biden granted that request in one of his final acts in office.
American Accountability Foundation President Tom Jones blasted the arrangement: “Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll the Pechanga tribe’s lavish lifestyles and radical views, especially when individual tribe members are raking in tens of thousands a month from casino profits. That’s not an impoverished community—it’s a corrupt one.”
In 2018, while accepting nearly $1 million in welfare-related TANF funds, the tribe was simultaneously finishing a $300 million expansion of its casino. Some estimates put per-member monthly payouts from casino revenue as high as $30,000. Yet the tribe continues to receive federal aid intended for struggling populations.
EPA grants alone include a $368,583 payment in 2024 to purchase a dump truck and water tanker, and another $100,000 from the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” for an ozone monitor. In 2023, the tribe was awarded $185,000 to help write a climate action plan.
The tribe’s political activism runs deep. Macarro’s cousin, Victor Rocha—an Indian Gaming Association official—has publicly encouraged violence against conservatives, once stating it’s “okay to punch Nazis and Heritage Foundation members in the face.” Other tribal leaders, including Treasurer Amy Minniear, Secretary Nichole Sutter, and Council Members Joe Murphy and Catalina Chacon, all have Democrat ties and have contributed to left-wing campaigns.
Macarro himself has attacked Trump’s education policies and his efforts to shrink bloated federal bureaucracies, claiming that Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education is a “betrayal” to Native communities.
Meanwhile, he and his wife Holly—a Democratic strategist and political donor—continue to enjoy access to Biden-world. Both attended a state dinner at the White House in April 2024, and Holly has been photographed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
As federal dollars continue to flow into a casino-rich community whose leadership has aligned itself with the Democratic establishment, critics say it’s time for Congress to stop treating the Pechanga Band like a needy population and start holding them accountable for misuse of taxpayer funds.
“Enough is enough,” Jones said. “Shut the spigot off.”