Tara Sweeney

In 2022, Sweeney announced her run for Alaska's at-large congressional district special election after the death of Don Young. In June, she finished fifth in the 50-person at-large primary, with the top four advancing to a runoff. When the third-placer, Independent Al Gross dropped out, the question of her moving to fourth arose. A case for her inclusion brought by her supporters lost and she did not protest her elimination. Sweeney announced a week after the primary election she was suspending her campaign after not "seeing a path to victory."

As Assistant Secretary, she faced calls for her resignation over the inclusion of for-profit Alaska Native owned corporations to directly compete with funding set aside for native governments dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. On April 28, 2020 a federal court blocked the inclusion of Alaska Native owned corporations from receiving federal stimulus money earmarked for tribal governments. The Supreme Court head the case on appeal and reversed the lower courts decision, agreeing that the 12 Alaska Native Regional Corporations were indeed eligible for the CARES Act funding along with the tribes.

In October 2017, Sweeney was nominated by President Donald Trump as assistant secretary for Indian affairs. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs unanimously recommended a full vote in the Senate, and she was unanimously confirmed in June 2018. During her confirmation hearing, she pledged to recuse herself from issues involving the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. She is the first Alaska Native and second woman to oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

During the 2014 United States Senate election in Alaska, Sweeney served as co-chair of Republican Dan Sullivan's Senate campaign, stating that the Democratic Senate Majority "feverishly worked on an agenda that stifled growth and economic opportunities in Alaska". As Assistant Secretary, Sweeney wrote an op-ed endorsing Sullivan's reelection in 2020, arguing that Sullivan's opponent Al Gross supported "national Democrats' own radical, anti-Alaska agenda".

She started a one-year term as co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives in October 2013. From 2015 to 2017, Sweeney served as chair of the Arctic Economic Council as a representative of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.

Sweeney is married to Kevin Sweeney, a former aide to Senator Lisa Murkowski. The couple have two children and live in Anchorage. She had a role in the 2011 film On the Ice, and their son Ahmaogak had a role in the 2012 film Big Miracle.

In 2003, Sweeney joined the cabinet of Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski as Special Assistant for Rural Affairs and Education.

Sweeney grew up in the towns of Wainwright, Bethel, Unalakleet, Utqiagvik in rural Alaska. In 1991, she graduated from Barrow High School. Sweeney attended Cornell University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and labor relations in 1998.

Tara MacLean Sweeney (born July 28, 1973) is an Iñupiaq American businesswoman and former government official who served as assistant secretary of the interior for Native American affairs from July 2018 to January 2021. Sweeney previously served in Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski's cabinet.