BEAD

Bipartisan Senators Want to Keep Non-Deployment Funds

Six GOP Senators signed on to a Tuesday letter to the NTIA.

Jake Neenan

Dec 17, 2025 — 3 min read

Photo of Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., in 2024 by Ben Curtis/AP

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2025 – A bipartisan group of 14 senators is asking the Commerce Department to preserve states’ access to billions in funding under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.

Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration estimates nearly of BEAD’s $42.45 billion won’t be needed for broadband deployment projects, partly a result of the Trump administration’s push to reduce spending.

The fate of that remaining cash, commonly called non-deployment funding, has been somewhat up in the air after NTIA rescinded approval for any non-deployment activities in June. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week looking to withhold the funds from states with unfavorable regulations on AI companies.

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