Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program

When President Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on the first day of his second term, he launched an initiative to reduce federal grants, contracts, and programs across Federal government agencies. As of June 3, 2025, DOGE was estimating $180 billion in "savings" as a result of these reductions. This estimate includes funding for national broadband and digital equity efforts that have been cut entirely or significantly revamped in the last two months alone.

In recent days, major new proposals from the Trump Administration and the majority in Congress are damaging further mechanisms that would have provided low-cost broadband to households in need. The Department of Commerce issued radically revised guidance for states implementing the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, and the Senate Commerce Committee released its part of the highly problematic reconciliation budget bill.

On behalf of the 156 individuals leading 140 organizations serving communities from 39 states, we, the undersigned, urge you to reinstate the Digital Equity Act (DEA) Programs that were cancelled on May 9, 2025. We are the organizations that would have carried out the work funded by the Digital Equity Act Program, created and authorized by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The adoption of digital workforce skills is more crucial than ever, panelists said at the Speeding BEAD Summit.

I’ve been saying for the last few years that the hardest job in the industry has been the folks who head State Broadband Offices. A lot of the hard work these folks did over the last three years was erased when the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) first eliminated the Digital Equity grants and then recently eviscerated the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants. What is probably the most disturbing about the sudden change in the rules is that BEAD was finally working.

A group of representatives from Illinois, led by Sen Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick regarding the termination of the Digital Equity Act. The group objected to the cancellation of the funding and urged Secretary Lutnick to reinstate the funding immediately. "Congress recognized that broadband access and digital literacy are increasingly critical for employment, education, healthcare and participation in the broader economy.

The Trump Administration pulled the plug on Vermont's $5.3 million 'Digital Equity' program in May. The program would have bridged Vermont's digital divide, providing devices and digital training to people who cannot access the internet, making broadband more accessible and affordable to folks living in rural communities, low-income households and people facing other digital barriers. Now, some have been left behind. Federal officials claim that the program was created using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) framework. Vermont's Community Broadband Board says that is just not the case.

Gigi Sohn, executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband, says that Trump’s reversal of the Digital Equity Act will result in more Americans being unable to access the Internet due to lack of resources or skills. “We will continue to have a massive digital divide in this country,” said Sohn.

The Digital Equity Act established the Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, and the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. Since early May, all 50 states, U.S. territories, and Tribal entities have grappled with the termination of broadband adoption funding through the Digital Equity Act, which President Donald Trump, via a social media post, declared to be racist, illegal, and unconstitutional.

In mid-May, the Trump Administration, through U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), terminated the Digital Equity Capacity Program. In Illinois, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) was in the process of implementing a Digital Equity Capacity Grant under this Program.