Senators to Question Lutnick Amid Concerns About BEAD

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2025 – The man President Trump has selected to supervise a troubled broadband deployment subsidy program is scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill next week for his confirmation hearing.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., announced Wednesday an official time for Howard Lutnick’s confirmation hearing will be Wednesday, January 29, at 10:00 a.m. EST. Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Commerce.

Cruz said in the announcement, “Mr. Lutnick will play a key role in unleashing unprecedented innovation and ensuring our nation’s job creators are well equipped to expand opportunities for good-paying jobs.”

If confirmed, Lutnick will be in charge of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is responsible for administering the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.

The massive BEAD program, passed in 2021, failed to connect a single home to  the Internet, causing it to become a political liability for the Biden administration.

While it is unknown how Lutnick reorganizes or cuts the budget of BEAD, some policy experts expect the Trump administration to shift BEAD money away from fiber toward alternative technologies like LEO satellites and fixed wireless.

Before officially taking his post, Lutnick was already being pitched BEAD policy revisions by at least one state leader. In a letter Thursday addressed to “Acting Secretary Lutnick,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, R, asked to keep fiber a priority in the Trump administration’s approach to BEAD.

Lutnick has been a proponent of both Trump’s tariff plans and the advancement of cryptocurrency. Lutnick has not made many comments on broadband or telecom issues leading up to his confirmation, which means Wednesday’s hearing could provide the forum for him to lay out his plans for BEAD.