May 2025

President Donald Trump turned his sights to the little-known Digital Equity Act, calling the program “racist” and “unconstitutional” in a post on his social media site Truth Social, vowing to end the program “immediately.” “Immediate” turned out to be the very next day, when states and nonprofits began receiving notices that said their grants had been terminated. “As the President determined and as Secretary Lutnick agreed,” the Act uses “impermissible and unconstitutional racial preferences.” President Trump referred to the Digital Equity Act as “woke handouts based on race,” but the act <

State broadband offices and nonprofits received notice on May 9 that digital equity grants had been canceled. States are weighing their next steps. The Vermont Community Broadband Board is meeting with the state attorney general’s office to discuss options, “up to and including filing a lawsuit that would address this head on, in terms of the constitutionality of this Congressional appropriation for these identified groups in need.” 

A House budget bill needs to find a big pot of revenue, and it looks like Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr will be handed the job. Under a newly unveiled budget plan, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep Brett Guthrie (R-KY) said he wants the FCC to raise $88 billion over the next nine years by auctioning off at least 600 megahertz of spectrum. Rep Guthrie’s plan appeared to hand a major political victory for the big mobile carriers—AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile—that want to perpetuate a licensed spectrum regime.

The Biden administration’s promise in 2022 was speedy internet access for every American as part of a $42.45 billion, once-in-a-generation U.S. infrastructure upgrade. Internet service giants Comcast and Verizon jumped in line with counties in submitting bids to make the dream come true by 2030. In Pennsylvania, contract awards for broadband expansion were anticipated before the end of 2025.