- FCC Reports Staff, DEI Changes
- Will Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding Halt?
- Federal Funding Announcements Made
- Maine Funds Digital Education
- NDIA Recognizes Digital Inclusion Trailblazers
FCC REPORTS STAFF, DEI CHANGES
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is experiencing staffing changes as a new presidential administration takes the reins. This type of change is typical under a new presidential administration, and FCC commissioners typically are divided along party lines.
In November, then President-elect Donald Trump tapped FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to serve as FCC chairman. He took the position over from former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworsel, who began serving as acting chair in January 2021 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year.
“The FCC has important work ahead — on issues ranging from tech and media regulation to unleashing new opportunities for jobs and growth through agency actions on spectrum, infrastructure, and the space economy,” Carr said of his designation as chairman, in a statement.
Carr this week announced numerous staff appointments, touting their legal and policy expertise. These include Scott Delacourt as chief of staff for the FCC, Greg Watson as the chief of staff of the office of Chairman Carr, Matt Mittelstaedt as director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, and Mark Stephens as the FCC’s managing director.
He has also announced the appointment of other staff, including acting bureau leadership and the acting general counsel.
Carr said in a statement that these new hires will play an “integral role” in helping the agency to carry out its mission. The agency’s mission, simply stated, is to serve as an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress to implement and enforce communications law and regulations.
This week, per executive action calling for the elimination of federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Carr has subsequently ended the agency’s promotion of these efforts in its strategic plan, budget, advisory group, action plan, task force, advisory committee directive, annual performance plans, and economic reports.
While he referred to these efforts as “wasteful,” another FCC commissioner had a differing opinion.
In a statement, Commissioner Anna M. Gomez said that both in the FCC’s creation and in the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress has directed the commission to focus on diversity and inclusion.
“Let’s be clear: diversity, equity and inclusion does not equal discrimination,” Gomez’s statement reads. “It bears repeating, our foundational mission is to serve all.”
WILL BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW FUNDING HALT?
President Donald Trump issued a wave of executive orders during the first week of his term. Among them, “Unleashing American Energy” calls on all agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” appropriated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This could potentially put projects that are well underway in peril and create government waste. Notably, the action would go against existing law by seeking to block congressionally approved spending.
New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement that the American government “must uphold its commitments.”
“Congress passed landmark infrastructure and climate investments, and now President Trump is attempting to illegally withhold that money from American businesses, communities, and workers,” Pallone said.
U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton issued a statement in which he called on U.S. Department of Transportation Acting Secretary Judith Kaleta to clarify the executive order.
“These are dollars Arizona is counting on for our roads and highways, airports and water infrastructure,” Stanton said in a post on X sharing the statement.
What will follow remains to be seen. However, the Office of Management and Budget issued a clarifying memorandum explaining that the pause on disbursement of funds only applies to funds supporting programs that may be implicated by the policy established in Section 2 of the order. This section includes halting projects that are not based on clear and applicable laws and those that are related to electric vehicle policy. The order did not specifically mention broadband or high-speed Internet work.
Prior to Trump taking office, the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Director Evan Feinman told Government Technology he expected the program to continue under the new administration as written into law by the U.S. Congress. He argued that broadband infrastructure is not a “red state problem or a blue state problem,” but rather, like rural electrification and the interstate highway system, it is “the next chapter in that American infrastructure story.”
FEDERAL FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS MADE
Questions remain on the precise future of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding following an executive order from President Donald Trump. However, because this legislation and its funding were approved by Congress, federal agencies have continued to announce funding awards in the past week, as no infrastructure-related disruptions were expected to occur under the new administration.
This includes more than $369 million from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to support digital skills and inclusion projects from the $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The other two programs are the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program and the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program.
In addition, Nevada’s final proposal for BEAD program funding was approved by NTIA, making it the third state to meet the milestone.
MAINE FUNDS DIGITAL EDUCATION
In state news, the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) has opened a competitive grant program for organizations in the state to support their communities through access to digital skills, devices, education and technical support.
Currently, MCA is accepting letters of intent from eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, state agencies, and local and tribal governments.
The state is hosting an information session Thursday for interested applicants; applications will be evaluated using program criteria. The state expects funding requests made through this grant program to exceed the available amount of federal funding; the same was true with the state’s Connectivity Hubs program.
NDIA RECOGNIZES DIGITAL INCLUSION TRAILBLAZERS
Last week, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) announced its 2024 Digital Inclusion Trailblazers, recognizing 60 local governments across 25 states for their work in closing the digital divide. This is the organization’s biggest such cohort yet; the full list can be found on NDIA’s website.
The group will be recognized at NDIA’s annual conference, Net Inclusion 2025, registrations for which are open now. The materials submitted by governments being recognized have been compiled into a public inventory.
Also, earlier this month, NDIA published a resource, State of Digital Inclusion in the States, which aims to support state leaders, policymakers and other digital equity advocates in their work to advance digital inclusion.
