USDA, NTIA Receive Budget Cuts in Fiscal Year 2026

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2025 – The Trump administration followed through on threats to reduce federal spending on broadband initiatives, releasing the full text of its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal on Friday that would impose steep cuts to programs meant to expand high-speed internet access and digital skills.

The federal government’s proposed FY26 budget would make major cuts in funding to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and to the broadband service development programs administered by the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Under the proposal, funding for the USDA’s ReConnect program, which offers loans and grants for rural broadband development, would be  cut entirely (p. 140), reducing the budget from $52 million last year. The NTIA’s budget would also be reduced 19 percent from the previous year. The proposal would allocate $46 million “for necessary expenses, as provided for by law,” (p. 222) down from $57 million in FY25.

The budget reaffirms the administration’s commitment to continuing the $42.45 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program; however, it proposes ending the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program one year early, eliminating $550 million in funding expected in the program’s last year.

In May, Trump justified the proposed ReConnect cut by calling USDA broadband programs “redundant,” citing existing funds at NTIA. The administration argues that streamlining programs will reduce bureaucracy, but rural advocates warn that cutting ReConnect would remove a key lifeline for the most underserved areas.

Meanwhile, bipartisan legislation now moving through the House, the ReConnecting Rural America Act of 2025, would restore and expand ReConnect funding allocating $650 million through 2030, setting up a potential clash between Congress and the White House over the future of rural broadband.