Trump killed the Digital Equity Act but US was forced to bring part of it back

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it will issue a revised Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Digital Equity Act’s Competitive Grant Program, with a target start date in December. A court order removed the “racial or ethnic minority” category from the list of eight covered groups, leaving low‑income households, seniors, incarcerated individuals (excluding federal prisons), veterans, people with disabilities, language‑limited users, and rural residents eligible. NTIA Executive Director Angela Siefer said the agency has not yet decided whether to submit a grant proposal, noting that a prior Biden‑era project aimed to serve roughly 30,000 people across rural, urban, and tribal areas. Meanwhile, the Trump administration, while preserving the broader $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, trimmed its spending to about $21 billion, postponed state awards, eliminated price‑cap and net‑neutrality conditions, and redirected additional funds to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service.

This development sits at the intersection of two competing policy currents: the bipartisan push for nationwide broadband expansion and the partisan reshaping of how that money is allocated. The Digital Equity Act was passed alongside BEAD to target “underserved” populations, but the recent judicial carve‑out of the minority provision undercuts the original equity intent. The Trump administration’s budget cuts and regulatory relaxations echo a broader trend of leveraging broadband subsidies to favor market‑driven solutions, exemplified by the extra funding for Starlink, while reducing federal leverage over pricing and service standards.

The removal of the minority eligibility line could narrow the pool of grant recipients and potentially dilute the program’s impact on historically disadvantaged communities. States that drafted rollout plans under the Biden administration now face uncertainty about federal financing timelines and criteria. Stakeholders should monitor the final NOFO language, the NTIA’s decision on whether to compete, and the disposition of the remaining $21 billion earmarked for broadband deployment, as these factors will shape the pace and equity of U.S. connectivity efforts.