Newsweek

The federal government is pouring $42.5 billion into funding broadband infrastructure across the country so that all Americans can get online. But five months after we should have broken ground on the new broadband networks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hit reset on the entire program. The new rules he released won't bring us any closer to closing the digital divide—in fact, they'll undo years of progress toward that goal.

As former chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)—one appointed by a Democrat, the other by a Republican—we have seen firsthand how the agency operates when it is guided by its mission to uphold the public interest. But in just over two months, President Donald Trump and his handpicked FCC Chair Brendan Carr have upended 90 years of precedent and congressional mandates to transform the agency into a blatantly partisan tool. Instead of acting as an independent regulator, the FCC is being weaponized for political retribution under the guise of protecting the First Amendment.

A bipartisan group of senators is looking into Universal Service Fund (USF) reform and, even better, there are solutions on which both parties can agree.

There are pragmatic steps within reach to ensure connectivity for all, trust for all, and opportunity for all: