Lutnick Aiming for Non-Deployment Guidance ‘Over the Next Two Months’
NTIA also approved Oklahoma’s final BEAD proposal, leaving only California and Illinois awaiting clearance.
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2026 – The head of the Commerce Department is hoping to complete guidance on $22 billion in broadband spending “over the next two months.”
That’s what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told lawmakers Wednesday during a hearing on the agency’s 2027 budget. The agency had been planning to release the guidance March 11, but it’s been delayed.
Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration is handling the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. About $22 billion of that will be left over after deployment projects are funded, due in part to Trump administration efforts to bring down spending as much as possible.
