This work of research discusses how the current politics has influenced the changing environment of federal recognition rules of Native American tribes. Federal recognition is one of the most essential tools that tribes have to acquire the right to sovereignty, grant funds, and political immunities. Nevertheless, the process is not fixed and purely administrative but is framed within changing political philosophies, lobbying influence, and politics of government. The paper offers a historical and policy-based perspective of the changes made in recognition criteria and how the political interest that determines how a people is defined, the narratives that drive the history of a people, and administrative discretion have transformed the meaning of a tribal entity being a recognized nation in the U.S. legal lexicon. The paper asserts that tribal recognition is not only a legal status but also a political landscape that is subject to the priority of the federal administration, tribal politics, and overall social and political shift.