Seniors/Aging Individuals

On Friday, May 9, 2025, the Trump Administration began notifying states that their Digital Equity Act Capacity Grant funds were terminated. The day prior, President Donald Trump shared via Truth Social that he and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are determined to bring an end to the Digital Equity Act and its “unconstitutional” and “illegal” programs. In 2021, Congress included the Digital Equity Act in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to give U.S.

President Donald Trump called a Biden-era law to expand high-speed internet access "racist" and "illegal." We asked the White House and federal departments involved in the program for evidence to support Trump’s statement and received no reply.

Jade Piros de Carvalho discusses the cascading impact of President Trump’s decision to cancel the Digital Equity Act. This sudden move threatens not just digital inclusion programs, but the very foundation of state broadband offices—and by extension, the success of the $42.5 billion BEAD infrastructure program. With broadband office funding models built on a delicate web of interconnected federal grants, Piros de Carvalho explains why pulling one thread puts everything at risk.

Digital inclusion organizations are reeling after the Trump administration announced the Digital Equity Act grant programs, embedded in the bipartisan infrastructure law, was being cancelled months after federal grants had already been reviewed and awarded. The Wiscasset, Maine-based National Digital Equity Center was one of 65 organizations and public entities

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in partnership with the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is seeking public input on how best to advance a seamless, secure, and patient-centered digital health infrastructure. The request for information invites input from patients, caregivers, providers, payers, technology developers, and other stakeholders on how CMS and ASTP/ONC can: 

President Donald Trump turned his sights to the little-known Digital Equity Act, calling the program “racist” and “unconstitutional” in a post on his social media site Truth Social, vowing to end the program “immediately.” “Immediate” turned out to be the very next day, when states and nonprofits began receiving notices that said their grants had been terminated. “As the President determined and as Secretary Lutnick agreed,” the Act uses “impermissible and unconstitutional racial preferences.” President Trump referred to the Digital Equity Act as “woke handouts based on race,” but the act <

State broadband offices and nonprofits received notice on May 9 that digital equity grants had been canceled. States are weighing their next steps. The Vermont Community Broadband Board is meeting with the state attorney general’s office to discuss options, “up to and including filing a lawsuit that would address this head on, in terms of the constitutionality of this Congressional appropriation for these identified groups in need.” 

The Maine Connectivity Authority, the agency leading the statewide expansion of broadband and digital opportunity in Maine, has received a notification from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that as of Friday, May 9, it has terminated three grants totaling $35 million in funding for Maine. These grants funded programs to improve digital skills, provide internet safety education and ensure people have affordable devices.

Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) said, “On the same day Senate Republicans voted to strip internet access from students and educators, President Trump is illegally attempting to end a program that connects millions of people to the online world. In New Mexico, we know the difference between slow internet, fast internet, and no internet and the challenges that come with it. Our students, seniors, veterans, and small businesses rely on internet access for education, health care, economic opportunity, and public safety. President Trump is leaving our communities in the dark.

On May 8, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he is ending the Digital Equity Act, calling it unconstitutional, illegal, and racist. In fact, the opposite is true.