WASHINGTON - Despite a troubled history, a federal judge cannot strip the Interior Department of its management of
  billions of dollars of royalties from Indian land, according to government attorneys.

  Because Congress assigned the Interior Department the task of fixing the trust, a judge would be violating Congress'
  constitutional authority if he changed that arrangement, the department's lawyers argued in court documents filed late
  Thursday night.

  U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has been asked by lawyers for 300,000 Indians to take away oversight of the Indian
  money from Interior because the department has failed to fix more than a century of mismanagement.

  The trust fund was established in 1887 to manage mining, oil and gas, timber harvesting and cattle grazing royalties from 54
  million acres of Indian land.

  Money from the account was meant to be paid to the Indian beneficiaries, but the Indian plaintiffs say the Interior
  Department squandered more than $10 billion.

  In 1999, Lamberth ordered Interior to fix the system and account for the lost money, but the department has failed to do
  either despite spending $614 million on the effort, according to reports by court-appointed watchdogs.

  Because of the departments inability to fix the system, the Indians' lawyers have asked Lamberth to find 39 Interior
  Department officials in contempt of court and possibly jail them.

  In their recent filings, the Interior Department lawyers conceded that Interior has struggled with reform efforts, but they
  argued that the Interior Department officials have done nothing to directly violate a clear court order which would justify a
  finding of contempt.

  At an Oct. 30 hearing, Lamberth scolded the Interior department's lawyer, saying the department's behavior showed such
  blatant contempt that he should "throw yourself on the mercy of the court."

  A hearing is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 30.