Trump Is Forcing States to Funnel Grant Money to Starlink, Senate Democrats Say

Trump is forcing states to funnel grant money to Starlink, Senate Democrats say

Overhaul of $42 billion program could delay deployment for years, Democrats warn.

Trump is forcing states to funnel grant money to Starlink, Senate Dem…

Lutnick's announcement of the BEAD overhaul also criticized what he called the program's "woke mandates" and "burdensome regulations." Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have criticized a requirement for ISPs that accept subsidies to offer low-cost Internet plans to people with low incomes, though the low-cost rule was originally imposed by Congress in the law [...]

Senate Democrats Demand Lutnick Release BEAD Funding, Criticize 'Bureaucratic Delays'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., pressed the Trump administration Friday to immediately release the $42.5 billion Congress allocated to NTIA's BEAD program. Commerce...

Oklahoma Releases Dashboard Showing BEAD Deployment Status

June 2, 2025 – The Oklahoma Broadband Office released a dashboard last week showing address-level data on the deployment of high-speed internet in preparation for the release of funds from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. Users can now see the current status of broadband deployment in their area, as well as the provider of that broadband internet.The dashboard shows the project status for each of the 69,133 locations set to …

Op-Ed: Don’t rely on shaky USF funding for BEAD

While BEAD is a relatively new broadband funding program, the Universal Service Fund (USF), which has existed in its current form for nearly three decades, is also facing an existential crisis.