Connecticut’s proposed tribal casino expansion hit a snag over the weekend after a judge ruled that the federal government was under no obligation to approve the project.

On Saturday, Judge Rudolph Contreras of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said the plaintiffs – the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, along with the state of Connecticut – had “failed to state claims upon which relief may be granted” in their efforts to compel the federal Department of the Interior (DOI) to approve a new casino off tribal lands.

The joint venture tribal partners want to build a new slots-only gaming hall in East Windsor, close to the state’s northern border with Massachusetts, where MGM Resorts’ new $960m MGM Springfield opened last month. The tribes intended the slots hall as a way of keeping gambling money in the state rather than flowing into MGM’s shiny new venue.

Initially, the DOI’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) failed to respond to the tribes’ request for approval of amending their gaming compacts with the state of Connecticut to permit the new casino project. But in May, the BIA okayed amending the Mohegans’ gaming compact, while staying mum on its view of similar amendments to the state’s deal with the Mashantucket Pequots.