Senate Bill Would Terminate USDA’s Community Connect Grant Program
The program supports broadband expansion in rural areas where service does not exist.
WASHINGTON, August 5, 2025 – Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced a bill Thursday to terminate the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Connect Grant program in pursuit of her goal to “cut wasteful spending and make Washington squeal.”
According to her website, Ernst’s “Make ‘Em Squeal” agenda aims to “make Washington more competent and less wasteful.” She has advocated for spending cuts across federal programs with the stated intention of eliminating burdens on Iowa’s farmers and rural communities.
Ernst’s bill, introduced on July 31 and referred to the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, would cut the USDA’s Community Connect Grant program – a federal initiative that funds broadband deployment in rural, economically-challenged communities where service does not exist.
The full text of Ernst’s bill was not available at the time of publication, and specific provisions have not been made public.
The proposal to eliminate Community Connect comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to reduce broadband spending. In May, the White House proposed eliminating funding for another USDA broadband program, calling it “duplicative.”
However, both the House and Senate have since moved to restore funding for those programs in their respective budget proposals, with the Senate allocating $20 million for the Community Connect program in Fiscal Year 2026.
“The Community Connect program helps rural communities extend access where broadband service is least likely to be commercially available, but where it can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for people and businesses,” the USDA’s website states.
“The projects funded by these grants help rural residents tap into the enormous potential of the Internet for jobs, education, healthcare, public safety, and community development,” according to the website.
Funds are allowed to be used for the construction, acquisition, or leasing of facilities, spectrum, land, or buildings needed to deploy broadband service to all residential and commercial customers located within a Proposed Funded Service Area, as well as to participating “critical community facilities” such as public schools, fire stations, and public libraries.
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