White House Issues Order Pledging to Withhold BEAD Funds From States With 'Onerous' AI Laws

Order tones down language of leaked draft, but continues restriction on dispensing remaining BEAD funds to states with 'onerous' AI laws.

Drew Clark

Dec 11, 2025 — 7 min read

Screenshot of President Donald Trump in the Oval Office while signing the AI executive order on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025

Updated at 11:48 p.m. ET - Updated with more details about the signing, the order and differences with the draft, plus reactions from INCOMPAS and House Democrats.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2025 – President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at bolstering federal authority over artificial intelligence policy, and requiring the Commerce Department to restrict Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment funding if states’ laws on artificial intelligence are too “onerous.”

The Executive Order, "Ensuring a National Policy Framework For Artificial Intelligence," makes minor modifications to the Nov. 19 draft executive order as reported by Broadband Breakfast. The draft version contained the aspiration that a single “minimally burdensome national standard” of AI regulation would exist.

But the final executive order suggests that this is a goal to be achieved with Congress, and said that the to-be-developed framework "should also ensure that children are protected, censorship is prevented, copyrights are respected, and communities are safeguarded" – all new language added to the official executive order.