Texas AG Candidate Vows to Investigate SpaceX’s BEAD Awards
Nathan Johnson says the state’s subgrant selection process ‘sure looks like’ corruption.
WASHINGTON, July 10, 2026 – Texas’ Democratic candidate for attorney general says, if elected, he would investigate whether SpaceX got preferential treatment in receiving $109 million in state broadband grants.
The remarks by Nathan Johnson, a state senator, come after the state revised its broadband grant process following the Trump administration’s restructuring of a $42.45 billion federal broadband expansion initiative.
The revised federal guidance, released June 2025, encouraged states to consider lower-cost technologies, including low Earth orbit satellite service, alongside fiber in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.
Johnson alleged that Texas officials directed 99% of available grant funds toward SpaceX, in an interview Friday with the Dallas News, arguing the procurement process “sure looks like” corruption.
SpaceX’s award, however, did not represent 99% of Texas’ BEAD funding. Starlink’s award covers about 27% of the total BEAD locations in Texas and represents less than one-tenth of the state’s approximately $1.2 billion BEAD allocation. It was one of 22 preliminary award decisions issued under Texas’ revised plan approved in December.
“I am not declaring that corruption was at work in this instance. I am saying that it sure looks like it,” Johnson told the Dallas News. “Public confidence in the bidding process has been undermined.”
SpaceX does have a record of challenging broadband award decisions in other states.
The company challenged proposals in Colorado, Louisiana, Virginia, and Wisconsin, arguing the states’ initial awards did not adequately consider lower-cost satellite service. Pennsylvania was forced to revise its draft results to award slightly more locations to SpaceX.
The company also aggressively bid and undercut competitors across states, arguing that it should be winning more locations after the Trump administration instituted new rules that emphasized low deployment costs.
Eight companies offering fiber broadband in Texas raised concerns in a letter that the revised grant process appeared to exclude them from competing for some awards.
SpaceX was the largest individual bidder in Texas, submitting bids to serve 244,596 locations, making it an applicant for most, if not all, of Texas’s roughly 243,000 BEAD-eligible locations.
Johnson said the Starlink awards warrant further review by lawmakers and pledged to launch an inquiry into the grants and the state’s relationship with SpaceX, headquartered in Starbase, Texas, if he wins the November election.
Johnson, for his part, has focused scrutiny on the governor's office, alleging changes to the state’s grant criteria were made at the direction of the office of Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, during a hearing of the Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee in June.
The issue was also acknowledged by Senate Business and Commerce Committee Chairman Charles Schwertner, a Republican, who said concerns about “favoritism and transparency” had been brought to his office.
Abbott's office has defended the grant decisions, arguing they align with the state’s goal of expanding broadband access to rural Texans as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. Records show Musk has previously made monetary donations to Abbott, among other Texas officials.
Texas’ revised BEAD plan calls for getting fiber to about 51 percent of its BEAD locations, with 27 percent in line for satellite, and 22 percent for wireless.
The 2026 Texas attorney general election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton will not seek a fourth term, opting instead to run for the U.S. Senate.
Johnson will face off against Republican nominee State Senator Mayes Middleton, a wealthy oilman and state senator who once headed the Texas state House Freedom Caucus.
