Interior officials - including career staff and two Trump appointees - had tentatively signed off on the tribes' proposal in the summer of 2017. But in September the department declined to approve it, prompting a lawsuit by Mashantucket Pequot and the state of Connecticut. The tribe has questioned whether Zinke was improperly influenced by Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., and then-Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., both of whom have received contributions from MGM Resorts International. The company ranked as Heller's second-biggest contributor between 2011 and 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics,giving him $57,450 during that period.