Senate Confirms Roth to Lead NTIA
Former Cruz staffer will head up deployment of the BEAD program
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2025 – The Senate confirmed Arielle Roth by a 52-42 vote Wednesday to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Roth’s confirmation was supported by all present Republicans and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. All other present Democrats voted against Roth. Her confirmation came a week after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., teed up her nomination on the Senate floor, and proceeded smoothly despite Sen. Jacky Rosen’s, D-Nev., best efforts to delay the process.
Roth, whose nomination was formally sent to the Senate nearly six months ago, on February 3, 2025, will be stepping into the agency just as states were preparing to submit their final proposals for funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program to the NTIA.
The former Ted Cruz, R-Texas, staffer and Federalist Society contributor was critical of the Biden-era NTIA’s handling of the BEAD program.
“The NTIA has just been preoccupied with attaching all kinds of extra legal requirements on BEAD and, you know, honest to honest, a woke social agenda, loading up all kinds of burdens that deter participation in the program and drive up costs,” Roth told attendees at a Federalist Society event.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will rely on Roth to help keep his promise to get states BEAD funding by the end of the year. The former Hudson Institute Legal Fellow will also be responsible for administering the plethora of programs under the NTIA’s purview, including the $1 billion Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program and the $3 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.
Roth has promised to work with lawmakers from both parties to expedite the BEAD program but didn’t specify what changes, if any, she would like to see to the program during her confirmation hearing. Many of Roth’s previous concerns about BEAD–including its favoritism of fiber and “woke” mandates, were addressed by Lutnick’s changes to the program in June.
Member discussion