Rep. Guthrie: BEAD Money Needs to Flow

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2025 – Regulatory hurdles are stalling federal broadband investments and raising questions about America’s competitiveness in artificial intelligence and privacy, according to a senior House member.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., pointed to the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program as an example of regulatory burdens slowing down deployment.

He made these statements here Tuesday at the TechExpo25 in a fireside chat with NCTA - The Internet & Television Association President and CEO Cory Gardner.

He said BEAD has been delayed to the point that both Republicans and Democrats should be asking why the money has yet to be spent.

Guthrie also defended the idea of preempting state regulation on artificial intelligence. He named the numerous state-level laws that have been introduced in his home state of Kentucky as an example. “But we’re not competing with Europe to regulate — we’re competing with China to innovate,”, he added.

He said there is a need for unified national AI rules and considered local governments a potential regulatory threat.

On privacy, Guthrie noted that the committee has formed a privacy working group. He said the group is working on a draft of a bipartisan privacy bill. While the chairman did not set a deadline for the bill, he said the committee aims to keep pushing toward completion by the end of the year.

“And we want to protect”, he said, but warned: “If you want to see how to regulate yourself out of business [and] if you want to see what not to do, just go to Europe.”