‘Outraged’ Democrat Sen. Rosen Retaliates Against Lutnick over New BEAD Rules, Nevada's Rescinded Approval

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2025 – Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said Friday she plans to slow-walk Commerce Department nominees that oversee broadband in response to the agency rescinding approval of her state’s $416 million broadband expansion plan.

On Friday, Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration under Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick released its revised rules for the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. The new policy rescinded Biden-era approval of final spending plans from the three states that had received it, including Nevada, and will require all states and territories to conduct an additional round of bidding.

“I’m beyond outraged that the Trump Administration has moved the goal post yet again and rescinded Nevada’s approval to get the BEAD funding I secured to connect the hardest-to-reach communities in our state to high-speed internet,” Rosen said in a statement. “This decision will put Nevada’s broadband funding in jeopardy, and it’s a slap in the face to rural communities that need access to high-speed internet. I’m going to put a hold on all nominations for Commerce Department positions that oversee or deal with broadband policy in any way, and block their expedited confirmation, until Nevada gets its BEAD funding.”

A lone holdout can’t prevent a nominee from being confirmed, according to the Congressional Research Service, but can make the process lengthier. Commerce nominees who have yet to be confirmed include Arielle Roth, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the NTIA, and Paul Dabbar, tapped for the Deputy Secretary of Commerce job. 

Roth is the telecom policy director for Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and has been critical of BEAD’s now-stricken fiber preference. The new rules will allow providers using any technology to ask states to be treated with priority and compete with fiber, which can be expensive to deploy, largely on the basis of cost. 

Lutnick posted on X Sunday night that Nevada's now-rejected plan included some locations he said were too expensive.

“Take a look at Nevada. The Biden Administration approved their BEAD application with 24 project areas in the state with a PER LOCATION cost of over $100,000 each, incredible. One location cost over $228,000!!” he wrote. “We will stop this absurd spending while delivering the benefit of the bargain by connecting unserved communities with satellite, fixed wireless, and/or fiber: whichever makes the most economic sense.”

The senators from Colorado, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats, said the decision to make states rework their applications “betrays the promise Congress made to the American people.” 

The Communications Workers of America lamented the axing of various labor protections and workforce development requirements.

“The NTIA’s elimination of requirements for fair labor practices and workforce development plans will hinder states’ ability to appropriately manage local workforce needs, or to create the good jobs that would have attracted and retained a well-trained workforce,” the group said in a statement.

For his part, Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said that “as this process moves forward, we will continue underscoring how fiber is the most reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient technology on the market and is uniquely positioned to serve as the backbone to our nation’s broadband infrastructure.”

While many consumer advocates, Democratic lawmakers, and other stakeholders were quick to decry the new rules for requiring states to rebid, wireless ISPs were pleased. 

WISPA CEO David Zumwalt hailed the guidance after it came down Friday. The NTIA is requiring states to update their eligibility maps with the presence of unlicensed fixed wireless service, meaning those providers won’t be overbuilt if they can show they state they meet minimum BEAD requirements, which is something the group has been asking for.

Levin: could see litigation

Blair Levin, policy advisor at New Street Research and former FCC official, wrote in a Monday investor note that it’s not clear how exactly things will shake out with the new BEAD rules. He said the policy made things more favorable for satellite ISPs, as expected, and that states would likely have difficulty meeting Commerce’s deadline for revised final spending plans: 90 days from Friday.

“We understand that there is a significant backlash brewing in the states and among other stakeholders,” Levin wrote in an investor note Monday. “We would not be surprised to see some litigation.”

Levin predicted that would be most likely to come from smaller rural providers that had won now-rescinded awards and “may view the new rules as an existential threat.” He said states could also sue but might want to avoid any further delays, and the major ISPs who have participated in BEAD “are likely to think they have other battles to fight that are more important.”

There’s also the fact of Elon Musk and Trump’s public feuding over the Republican spending bill. Musk, a major GOP donor and until recently a close advisor to Trump, controls the satellite ISP Starlink, which could be in line to benefit from the new rules.

“While Trump was threatening all Musk companies with a loss of their federal contracts, Lutnick was changing the rules to benefit a Musk company,” Levin wrote. “We assume that if Musk continues in his effort to oppose the reconciliation bill, the White House may signal to NTIA and the states that they do not have to tip the scales” in favor of satellite.