Cantwell, Schatz Press NTIA on Nearly $1B in Undistributed Tribal Broadband Grants

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2025 – Senators are demanding an explanation from the Commerce Department for the Trump administration’s decision to freeze nearly $1 billion in broadband grants for tribal nations.

In a letter Thursday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Telecommunications and Information Administration Administrator Arielle Roth, Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said roughly $980 million in second round Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program funding remained unobligated, despite applications closing in March 2024. 

Another $294 million in grants announced late last year have not been distributed, the senators said, and existing grant recipients have reported concerns that NTIA may impose new requirements or claw back previously awarded funds.