Senate Votes to Repeal Biden FCC’s Wi-Fi Hotspots Rule

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2025 – The Senate just voted to repeal a Federal Communications Commission rule allowing schools and libraries to use federal broadband funds to lend Wi-Fi hotspots for off-campus use.

The resolution passed 50–38 Thursday, with all “yes” votes coming from Republicans and all “no” votes from Democrats and independents. But 12 senators – including Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. – did not vote.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who sponsored the Senate resolution,  S.J. Res. 7, has largely framed it as an effort to protect children from the harms of the internet. 

“Today, we voted to reverse this rule and protect America’s children from the many dangers lurking when they surf the web without parental consent or supervision,” Cruz said in a statement following the vote. 

Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, has introduced a companion resolution in the House. His office has not responded to calls and emails seeking update on his CRA resolution introduced in February.

Passed under the Congressional Review Act, the Senate resolution voided a rule finalized by former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that took effect in September 2024. The rule expanded the agency’s $2.6 billion E-Rate program to support internet connectivity beyond school and library grounds.

Because the resolution was passed under the CRA, if it also clears the House and is signed into law, the FCC’s hotspot rule would not only be overturned – the agency would also be prohibited from issuing any future rule that is “substantially the same.”

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, who voted for the hotspots order last July, issued a statement critical of the Senate vote. “Wi-Fi hotspots can mean the difference between success and setback, between inclusion and isolation,” she said. “Congress should focus on funding opportunities to close that gap – not taking it away.”

But now-FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, applauded the Senate, saying the FCC’s 2024 order was “regulatory overreach” and “has earned this rare rebuke from the Senate.”

“When the COVID-19 emergency passed, the FCC’s authority to keep spending federal dollars on that program ended,” Carr said. He criticized the Biden-era FCC for attempting to extend the program “in the absence of any authorization from Congress” and applauded Cruz and the Senate for advancing the CRA resolution, adding, “I hope the House can move this resolution forward quickly.”

Critics of the repeal warned Thursday the move will widen the digital divide, especially in rural and low-income communities.

“This unnecessary Republican rollback will only make it harder for our kids to succeed in the digital, 21st-century classroom, and it should have been voted down,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said in a statement following the vote. Vermont operates a ‘Wi-Fi on Wheels’ program to expand connectivity on school buses.

Mark Colwell, director of broadband operations at Mission Telecom and former senior manager of broadband programs for the Colorado Broadband Office, said he was “disappointed” with the Senate vote. Schools and libraries had used a tool of the non-profit telecommunications provider to provide more than 880,000 mobile connections at a modest cost to E-Rate customers. His office pointed to an analysis showing 17 million students across the U.S. lack reliable internet.

The FCC’s rule has been praised by digital equity advocates, with more than 30 groups previously urging the Senate not to move forward on Cruz's CRA resolution.

Still, Republican lawmakers defended the repeal this week as necessary.

“The problems with this regulation are myriad,” Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said, speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday. “It is, as I said, unlawful. It violates the Communications Act, which clearly limits the use of the funds in question to classrooms and libraries. And it effectively extends a program that Congress chose not to review.”

Correction: A prior version of this article reported that schools and libraries had filed with Mission Telecom to provide more than 880,000 mobile connections. In fact, schools and libraries had used a tool of Mission Telecom to provide more than 880,000 mobile connections to E-Rate customers. Mission Telecom is a non-profit telecommunications provider.