Agenda

On June 25, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a new proceeding that could fundamentally reshape—or potentially end—one of the federal government's primary tools for closing the digital divide. The FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the E-Rate program asks some of the most consequential questions the program has faced in its nearly 30-year history: Has E-Rate fulfilled its mission? Should eligibility be narrowed? Should funding levels change?

Apparently, President Trump plans to nominate a tech critic and telecommunications lawyer, Adam Candeub, to lead the antitrust division at the Department of Justice. Candeub, the general counsel at the Federal Communications Commission, was an author of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a road map of policy conservative proposals created for the Trump administration. In his chapter for Project 2025 on the FTC, Candeub criticized big tech companies for impeding free speech online, listing “the interference of larg

Stanley Woodward, a top Justice Department official, has told antitrust enforcers he prefers they stop taking cases to trial and settle them instead. Some lawyers at the department interpreted the comments from the department’s third-ranking official as a directive to resolve any litigation against companies and avoid future litigation. Woodward, who now directly oversees antitrust enforcement, has said internally that he favors avoiding drawn-out, manpower-intensive litigation. Woodward’s posture could weaken the department’s ability to challenge anticompetitive mergers and could put settl

“Today’s FCC vote is a deeply troubling step toward weakening E-Rate, a universal program that has connected millions of students, teachers, schools, and libraries—in urban and rural communities alike—to the internet for 30 years,” said Sen Ed Markey (D-MA). “This rulemaking goes far beyond reviewing the impact of screen time on students and undermines educational equality, harms our economic competitiveness, and threatens to reverse three decades of settled law.

Congress has failed to address the work force disruption that artificial intelligence could generate. The White House, excited about the upside for stocks and investment, has downplayed the potential for widespread job losses.

Now that the Federal Communications Commission is freeing up spectrum once again, we have an opportunity to build on that momentum and deliver the 800-megahertz pipeline Congress envisioned—and in a timely way. Doing so is critical to ensuring that AI innovation stays where it belongs: here in the United States. The pressure on timing is real.

Advocates for the E-Rate program are urging the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider and revise a notice of proposed rulemaking that poses questions and seeks comment on that program's administration, continuation and future. The FCC is scheduled to vote on the proposal at its monthly open meeting on June 25.