Lutnick: Commerce Launching 'Rigorous' BEAD Review; Lawmakers Spar at House Hearing

ACA Connects CEO Grant Spellmeyer and two other communications industry executives testified in favor of a targeted revamp of the program, as expected (see 2503040063). Sarah Morris, acting deputy NTIA administrator during the Biden administration, warned in her testimony that the Trump administration’s “inaction” on BEAD “means that communities in your districts remain disconnected. If we do not restart these programs very soon, leaders are throwing away years of careful planning and bipartisan effort in the states.”

Lutnick said Wednesday that Commerce will revamp BEAD “to take a tech-neutral approach that is rigorously driven by outcomes, so states can provide internet access for the lowest cost.” The department is also “exploring ways to cut government red tape that slows down infrastructure construction,” he said. “We will work with states and territories to quickly get rid of the delays and the waste. Thereafter, we will move quickly to implementation in order to get households connected.” All “Americans will receive the benefit of the bargain that Congress intended” for BEAD in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Lutnick said: “We’re going to deliver high-speed internet access, and we will do it efficiently and effectively at the lowest cost to taxpayers.”

Hudson praised Lutnick during the House Communications hearing for the launch of Commerce's probe of BEAD, saying he's “thrilled to have him join me in this effort.” Senate Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a lead IIJA negotiator, also applauded Lutnick for “wanting to improve the BEAD program after learning the Biden administration added many unnecessary mandates that led to delays in getting broadband deployed in West Virginia.” She cautioned that she's “all for improving the program, [but] I do not want to see West Virginia wait longer than is necessary or have to redo their proposals and application.”

Hudson touted Republicans’ Speed for BEAD Act as an effective way to “eliminate the burdensome Biden regulations so that we can get money out the door and shovels into the ground as soon as possible.” The measure would eliminate many of the rules in the notice of funding opportunity that Republicans objected to, including “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” labor, climate change and data cap ban requirements. The bill would excise “equity” from BEAD’s full name -- the broadband equity, access and deployment program -- and replace it with “expansion.” It also explicitly bans requirements that would institute rate regulation and mandates evaluating funding applicants “without regard to the type of technology by which such service is provided.”

“These changes to the BEAD program can be implemented quickly, provide certainty to the states, and not hinder the progress that states have already made,” Hudson said. House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., emphasized that lawmakers must “eliminate the burdensome and unnecessary regulations that the Biden administration imposed that have nothing to do with” IIJA’s mandate, “except to slow down the process. This program has been a failure of mass proportions, and we must act quickly to course correct, so that billions of American taxpayers' dollars are not wasted.”

Democrats' Criticism

House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey and other Communications Democrats sharply criticized the GOP’s push to change BEAD as threatening lawmakers’ goal of universal connectivity across the U.S. “Republicans have done nothing but undermine our efforts to deploy more reliable and affordable broadband,” Pallone said.

The Trump administration “has not moved one state forward in the process,” even though “three states have received approval of their final proposal [and] four states have completed their selection of” ISPs, Pallone said. Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., said the Commerce Department “has withheld final funding approval” for Louisiana’s more than $1.3 billion allocation, which NTIA cleared in January (see 2501140055). The state was ready to “literally put shovels into the ground,” he said. “I urge us to not go backwards.”

Pallone and other Democrats also raised concerns about reports that Commerce under Lutnick is attempting to divert BEAD funding from fiber to satellite services like SpaceX’s Starlink. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who also leads President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency advisory group, “is salivating over the prospect of steering BEAD dollars to his companies,” Pallone said. “Musk is a grifter, and Republicans are going to just stand by and watch.”

House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said Republicans “claim they're just being technology neutral, but can we trust this when the Trump administration has given [Musk] nearly unfettered authority to further his business interests by taking over government contracts and dismantling agencies regulating his companies?” She said she finds “it hard to believe that Republicans will ensure that the Trump administration applies broadband rules fairly.”

State Impacts?

State-level broadband advocates were still assessing Wednesday how potential changes to BEAD could impact operations. “It is too soon to say how this might affect broadband development and BEAD funding plans in Minnesota,” said a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. “The state has committed to implementing BEAD deployment, and we will work with our federal partners to meet their requirements and what is best for Minnesota.”

Colorado Broadband Office Executive Director Brandy Reitter said she couldn’t comment without knowing the full extent of the administration’s proposals, but Colorado would benefit from speeding up the program. “It's something all states have advocated for since the beginning, which we support,” she said in an email.

Utah, meanwhile, is “already expected to use alternative technologies based on the remaining remote locations that need to be served,” said state Broadband Center Director Rebecca Dilg. The current BEAD program contains “a lot of burdensome requirements,” she said. “I don't want to see any changes that will slow the process down, so waivers would be a good idea on a case-by-case, state-by-state basis.”

Telecommunications and broadband consultant John Greene wrote that states that have started the subgrantee selection process, such as Louisiana, “might be forced to rethink their process in light of potential new rules.” Other “states, like Texas, might be better served to pause their process until after Commerce has completed their review and made any necessary changes,” he said.

Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said in a statement that all “Americans deserve fiber for their critical broadband infrastructure.” Fiber “provides significantly better performance on every metric, such as broadband speeds, capacity, lowest latency and jitter, highest resiliency, sustainability and provides the maximum benefit for economic development and is required for AI, Quantum Networking, smart grid modernization, public safety, 5G and the future of mobile wireless communications,” he said. “We urge our policymakers to do what’s right for people and to not penalize Americans for where they live or their current income levels.”