D.C. Memo: Carr, GOP Senators Hit Harris on BEAD Management
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Carr: At a House hearing yesterday, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr delivered testimony insisting that the Biden administration had botched implementation of the BEAD program and failed to free up sufficient spectrum needed to sustain U.S. leadership in wireless innovation. Testifying before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability under Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Carr noted that so far the BEAD program passed in 2021 has not connected even one unserved location to broadband. "It gets worse. No infrastructure builds will even start until sometime next year at the earliest and in many cases not until 2026," Carr said. "This makes Vice President Harris's $42 billion initiative the slowest-moving federal broadband program in recent history."
Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) countered by saying Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) praised the BEAD program "because of the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been made available to the states to expand rural broadband." The hearing at times got partisan with one Democrat criticizing Carr for contributing work to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 and with Republicans hitting the Biden White House over the withdrawal from Afghanistan and security along the Mexican border. On spectrum, Carr said China has gained a 710 MHz advantage over the U.S. in freeing up licensed mid-band spectrum. "The Biden-Harris Administration does not have a serious plan to close this widening gap," he said.
