D.C. Memo: Senate Democrats Pressure Trump to Shut Down Lutnick's BEAD Review
◾ FCC OKs Verizon-Frontier; Calif. PUC Awaits ◾ Dabbar Endorses State Choice with BEAD ◾ Policyband Analysis: Cable Has a New Godfather – What Does Charter CEO Christopher Winfrey Do with His Power?
BEAD: A group of Senate Democrats led by Jacky Rosen of Nevada sent President Trump a letter last Friday asking him to start releasing BEAD funds now being held up by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s decision in March to overhaul the $42.45 broadband deployment program to make it more tech neutral and cost efficient, perhaps including a per-location cost cap. “NTIA must act swiftly to release BEAD funding to states that have already been approved and expeditiously work to approve the remaining eligible applications. Time is of the essence, and our rural and tribal communities cannot afford more delays,” the Senators said in their two-page letter. On the letter with Rosen were Sens. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). Sen. Angus King, a Maine Independent, also signed it. Just a few days before President Biden left office, NTIA gave final approval to award Nevada $416 million in BEAD deployment funds. After Trump’s inauguration, Nevada’s fund were frozen. Rosen’s anger about it came out at the May 1 confirmation hearing of Paul Dabbar, President Trump’s nominee to be Deputy Commerce Secretary. In their letter, the Senators effectively urged Trump to shut down Lutnick’s review. “The attempts by NTIA to revise the state application process at this late stage will cause further delays to the program and leave rural and tribal communities behind in an increasingly connected economy,” the lawmakers said. Concerns about Lutnick’s review is bipartisan in that Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) sent a May letter to Lutnick asking him to expedite the process. (More after paywall.)
