Questions Remain After NTIA’s Review of Billions in Broadband Grants, GAO Says
Watchdog says NTIA did not provide updated data or outcomes for awards flagged during Trump administration review.
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2026 – A congressional watchdog found unanswered questions in the federal government’s review of billions of dollars in broadband grants.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday documenting the internal process used by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to review $47.7 billion in broadband awards under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for consistency with executive orders issued by President Donald Trump in his second term.
GAO said the NTIA declined to provide updated funding data through the end of fiscal 2025 and did not answer auditors’ questions about the disposition of awards the agency had identified as conflicting with executive orders, limiting the watchdog’s ability to assess the review’s outcomes.
The report relies primarily on data through June 30, 2025, meaning it does not reflect the subsequent restructuring of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program that followed regulatory changes made that month by the Trump administration.
That restructuring has left roughly $21 billion in IIJA broadband funding undistributed as states await further guidance from NTIA on how the funds may be used.
“NTIA provided us with data through June 30, 2025, but, as of December 2025, declined to provide additional data through the end of fiscal year 2025,” the report, signed by GAO’s Director of Financial Management and Assurance, Anne Sit-William, and Director of Physical Infrastructure, Elizabeth Repko, states.
The reviews followed a series of directives issued after Trump returned to office that required federal agencies to examine existing grants and contracts for alignment with administration priorities. At NTIA, the review process unfolded in two phases.
In January 2025, the Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to temporarily pause certain federal assistance while programs were reviewed, and a subsequent Commerce Department directive in March 2025 required components, including NTIA, to review grant awards under Executive Order 14222, the administration’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ cost-efficiency initiative.
The reviews required agency leadership to evaluate whether awards should be modified, terminated or allowed to proceed.
The agency’s Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth first reviewed 393 IIJA awards in response to the OMB directive, examining whether grant language aligned with requirements identified in seven executive orders.
The office used keyword searches for terms including “racial,” “climate change,” “justice,” “cultural” and “diversity, equity, inclusion” to identify awards that might require additional review or changes.
NTIA later conducted a broader review of 491 IIJA awards worth $45.4 billion under the Commerce Department directive. Under that process, grant awards were reviewed and required approval from politically appointed leadership or designees, with awards above $100,000 requiring approval from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
GAO found that NTIA’s first review identified 15 awards that contained language potentially inconsistent with executive orders. Ten included references to ethnic, racial, or cultural groups or environmental reviews required by law, while five included references to underserved populations, DEI, cultural groups, or climate change.
After reviewing NTIA’s documentation, GAO auditors asked the agency whether the awards had been modified, paused or terminated, but NTIA did not provide that information.
“NTIA provided the review data and documentation described above to us in August 2025. At that time, officials told us that they had not identified any awards that presented conflicts with executive orders. However, as noted above, we found 15 awards for which NTIA identified conflicts with executive orders when we reviewed the data. We asked NTIA for information on outcomes of this review and the status of these awards, including any modifications, pauses, or terminations. NTIA did not provide this information,” the report states.
NTIA reported to GAO that, as of June 30, 2025, about 60 percent of IIJA awards and 96 percent of the funding under review had been approved. A lot has changed since that mid-2025 snapshot.
NTIA required additional reviews before broadband deployment projects were permitted to move forward. The Commerce Department issued new guidance on June 6, 2025, requiring states to restructure awards to prioritize the lowest cost.
The program’s restructuring resulted in a $21 billion pot of obligated funding which NTIA officials initially referred to as “federal savings,” but have since said they are operating under “the assumption” states will be able to use the funding to support digital infrastructure. The agency is four months behind a self-imposed deadline to issue guidance on how states may be able to use the $21 billion.
NTIA only reported to GAO in mid-2025 that it had canceled 120 awards issued under the Digital Equity Act, totaling about $1.4 billion, and gave no reference to the broadband infrastructure awards being reworked internally.
The status of those awards also remain fluid, however, as a subsequent court action has allowed the Digital Equity Act program to move forward without certain race-based criteria.
The GAO report not only documents NTIA’s review of broadband awards under the IIJA, but also examined how the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, and Department of Transportation reviewed billions of dollars in IIJA and Inflation Reduction Act funding.
Across the four agencies, GAO found that approximately 9,500 awards totaling $128 billion had been approved, while about 800 awards amounting to $17.8 billion had been canceled. More than 2,500 awards worth $33.6 billion remained pending. The figures reflect different reporting dates across agencies.
The GAO report was requested by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who were joined by more than 100 House members. GAO expects to report separately on the Department of Agriculture, which administers the ReConnect broadband infrastructure program, and the Department of Energy in September 2026.
NTIA did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
