BEAD Renders USDA Broadband Programs Obsolete

Connecting unserved and underserved communities across the country to high-speed internet has long been a laudable goal. But after a May 10, 2023, Government Accountability Office report exposed more than 133 broadband-related programs across 15 federal agencies, now-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said that up to $800 billion was available for broadband programs across the federal government, and it was clear that deployment needed to be more efficient and effective. That objective was significantly advanced in the “Benefit of the Bargain” guidance issued in June 2025 by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program, which led to a reduction in the amount of money requested by states and territories from the original $42.45 billion to $20.15 billion. There could therefore not be a better time for Congress to eliminate duplicative broadband programs, starting with the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. Former FCC Commissioner Michael O’Reilly made the case for cutting RUS broadband funding in a March article, which stated, “In light of progress in deploying BEAD funding and the resulting network extensions to unserved Americans that will soon begin, existing USDA-related programs should be halted ... At the top of the list is the ReConnect Program, which spent approximately $51 million on loans and grants in fiscal year 2026 and, according to its own website, ‘facilitates broadband deployment in areas of rural America that currently do not have sufficient access to broadband.’”