Trump Says Digital Equity Funding Under Broadband Law Will Be Ended
Targeted funds include $619 million, from a pool of $910 million in funding from NTIA, made available under a competitive grant program
WASHINGTON, May 8, 2025 – After more than 100 days of official silence about the status of digital equity grant funding, President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon said that the government would be "ending this immediately" and cancelling what he called a $2.5 billion "giveaway."
In a post on his Truth Social social network, Trump called the funding under the Digital Equity Act unconstitutional, racist and illegal. He said that he had spoken with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and that "we agree."
The Digital Equity Act was legislation attached to the bipartisan infrastructure law passed in August 2021 and signed by President Joe Biden in November 2021. The law allocated $65 billion for broadband, $42.5 billion under a last-mile infrastructure program, about $2.5 billion under DEA and $1 billion for middle mile broadband projects.
Broadband Breakfast
The Digital Equity Act is aimed at tackling barriers to broadband adoption that persist after infrastructure is deployed, like training, expensive devices or an unfamiliarity with digital services.
Early reactions from digital inclusion advocates
In a statement about Trump's post, National Digital Inclusion Alliance Executive Director Angela Siefer said:
Calling the Digital Equity Act unconstitutional is not only incorrect — it hurts millions of Americans who need digital navigation support and home internet to find jobs, access healthcare, and compete in today’s modern economy....
The Digital Equity Act was not an executive order issued at the whim of one individual. It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress to help close the digital divide in rural, urban, and Tribal communities. 56 States and Territories are counting on the funds to implement essential programs across their states, and their work is already underway. NDIA is one of 65 projects recommended for award, and our subgrantees were prepared to launch 13 programs in 11 states beginning on March 1. NDIA’s shovel-ready project alone would have served over 30,000 people in the next five years. Despite signed agreements with the federal government, we were told to stop. Now, a Truth Social post has put ours and 65+ other community-based trusted digital inclusion programs at risk, and real people are about to pay the price.
That includes workers who need to apply for jobs online. Parents who need internet access for their children’s education. Small businesses and farmers who rely on technology to compete. Veterans, seniors, and families being scammed out of thousands of dollars because they lack the tools and training to protect themselves. The support they need is urgent. It should be happening now....
A question seeking clarification about Trump's social media post emailed to the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers the broadband programs, was not immediately returned.
Concerns, but no reports of a funding pause or cancellation
In April, Broadband Breakfast was unable to verify reports that that the Trump administration had frozen funding for two programs under the Digital Equity Act, totaling about $2.5 billion.
Groups recommended for digital equity grants from the federal government had not been notified of a pause on funds. Those entities did receive notice that travel related to diversity efforts would not be an allowable expense, the people said.
The NTIA had recommended 65 municipalities, universities, and nonprofits for $619 million in grant funding under the Biden administration, but they needed to get through a budget review by the agency’s grant manager before accessing funds.
Jake Neenan
In February, when funds under the DEA program hadn't been released, awardees said they were hopeful that they would get the money and be able to fulfill their efforts to expand broadband adoption.
But the program got off a late start in the Biden-Harris administration. The NTIA didn't announce the rules for the competitive grant program until July 2024. And the prior administration did not announce awards until Jan. 6, 2025, and Jan. 17, 2025.
Jake Neenan
The total of $619 million awarded came from a pool of $910 million in a funding round made available under the competitive grant program by the Biden administration.
The grant program proved popular, with the agency reporting more than 700 applications seeking more than $6.5 billion in funding.
