Wednesday, June 25, 2025
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Federal Funding
Attorney General Platkin Leads Multistate Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Illegal Attempts to Terminate Critical Federal Funding to States
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced that he is leading a coalition of 21 Attorneys General and the state of Pennsylvania in suing the Trump Administration over its unprecedented and unlawful attempts to invoke a single provision buried in the federal regulations to strip away billions of dollars in critical federal funding for states and other grantees. The lawsuit seeks to limit the Trump Administration’s use of this regulation to indiscriminately and illegally terminate critical funding for combating violent crime, educating our students, protecting clean drinking water, conducting lifesaving medical and scientific research, safeguarding public health, addressing food insecurity, and much more. Since January 20, at the direction of President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, federal agencies have stripped away thousands of grants they had previously awarded to states and grantees. The Trump Administration has slashed this critical federal funding by invoking a single clause in the federal regulations of the Office of Management and Budget, which provides that agencies may terminate an award of federal funding if it “no longer effectuates … agency priorities.” Those five words have formed the basis for much of the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate campaign to unlawfully terminate critical funding expressly authorized by Congress and awarded to states.
As broadband officials dig into the fine print of updated guidance governing a $42.45 billion federal broadband expansion program, many raised concerns about new advantages carved out for low-Earth orbit satellite providers. One of the clearest examples, they argued, was a provision under revised rules for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program, that gives satellite providers up to 10 years to meet performance benchmarks—more than double the four years allowed for fiber and other technologies to comply. The rules, released by the Commerce Department earlier this month, purport to be “tech neutral,” but critics continue to find biases within them. “Don’t talk to me about technology neutrality when you’ve just given the worst technology the best odds of getting awards,” said executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband Gigi Sohn.
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently announced sweeping changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. Included in the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice from NTIA is instruction that “funding for allowable non-deployment purposes is under review and NTIA will issue updated guidance in the future.” This is a reversal of NTIA’s prior position. Before the Policy Notice was issued, NTIA had approved non-deployment activities in states’ Initial Proposals; the Policy Notice rescinds those prior approvals and indicates that Final Proposals need not describe non-deployment projects. Non-deployment funds refer to BEAD funds that are left over after a state meets BEAD’s infrastructure deployment requirements. Under NTIA’s previous guidance, non-deployment funds could be used for projects related to broadband adoption, providing devices, digital skills training, and other activities to complement BEAD’s universal connectivity goals. But now, while NTIA develops new guidance, it is unclear how non-deployment funds can be used, or if the funds will even be available for such purposes.
The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) published a Notice of Funding Availability requesting applications for the Building the Texas Broadband Workforce Grant Program. The program makes $25 million in grant funding available for successful applicants to build or expand accessible educational opportunities to grow a skilled and robust Texas broadband workforce. To learn more about the program, visit the Electronic State Business Daily posting. Clarifying questions will be accepted through June 30, and applications will be accepted no later than July 31.
Sam Altman, the chief executive of the artificial intelligence company OpenAI, recently donned a helmet, work boots and a luminescent high-visibility vest to visit the construction site of the company’s new data center project in Texas. Bigger than New York’s Central Park, the estimated $60 billion project, which has its own natural gas plant, will be one of the most powerful computing hubs ever created when completed as soon as next year. Around the same time as Mr. Altman’s visit to Texas, Nicolás Wolovick, a computer science professor at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina, was running what counts as one of his country’s most advanced A.I. computing hubs. It was in a converted room at the university, where wires snaked between aging A.I. chips and server computers. “Everything is becoming more split,” Dr. Wolovick said. “We are losing.” Artificial intelligence has created a new digital divide, fracturing the world between nations with the computing power for building cutting-edge A.I. systems and those without.
Olivia Trusty was nominated to serve as a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission by President Donald J. Trump. She was confirmed by the United States Senate in June 2025. Prior to joining the Commission, Commissioner Trusty served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services under the leadership of Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS). She previously served as a Policy Director on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a Legislative Assistant in the Office of Sen Wicker. Before her tenure as a Senate aide, Commissioner Trusty served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce and a Legislative Assistant to Rep Bob Latta (R-OH). Commissioner Trusty began her career in the private sector.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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Kevin Taglang
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Benton Institute
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