Akul Saxena

Eleven bills carrying most of a bipartisan artificial intelligence package cleared the House Science Committee in July, and a separate bill setting safety rules for the most powerful AI systems could get a hearing in November, said Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA). He said the pieces could be combined into a single bill eligible for a floor vote in December. The package started as the Great American AI Act, a 269-page discussion draft Obernolte released with Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) on June 4, 2026.

Medicare telehealth flexibilities that enabled rural patients to access specialists remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic remain temporary, and Congress has not acted to make them permanent. The Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion five-year federal initiative, cannot be used to pay for broadband installation or monthly internet costs at individual homes, despite the program's stated goals including improving access to broadband-enabled telehealth. 

The nation's top Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program official said she expects guidance on how states can spend the $21 billion in remaining funds "as soon as possible." Arielle Roth, Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the executive branch agency for communications and broadband policy, said it has completed a public listening process and is finalizing the guidance. "We need to be good stewards of this money," Assistant Secretary Roth said.

State regulators, a California congressman, and broadband providers warned that federal infrastructure spending alone will not close the digital divide, citing unresolved gaps in affordability, oversight, and long-term network sustainability. They argued that the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program represents a major buildout effort, not a complete broadband policy.

Federal broadband officials said that additional states were expected to receive approval soon to begin construction under the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, as agencies began implementing a December 2025 executive order that tethered federal infrastructure programs more directly to the Trump Administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) framework. The update came as 37 states had already been approved to enter the construction phase, moving the program from plan review to implementation.

The Senate advanced a stopgap funding bill that could end the nation’s longest government shutdown, as almost all aspects of federal government faced some measure of disruption after 40 days without funding. The shutdown, which began Oct 1 after Congress failed to pass fiscal 2026 appropriations, stalled many aspects of operations at the Federal Communications Commission, the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and other agencies and departments. The FCC 

Digital equity advocates warned that inconsistent federal financing threatened to erase broadband adoption gains, and urged Congress to replace the lapsed Affordable Connectivity Program with a stable, long-term consumer subsidy. Moderated by Revati Prasad, executive director of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, the panel said high monthly costs remained the main reason families lose or forgo internet service. Any replacement for the ACP must function as a permanent affordability support, not a short-term emergency program, argued Prasad.