Biden's openings for tech progress

Closing the digital divide will be a high priority for the Biden administration, as the pandemic has exposed how many Americans still lack reliable in-home internet connections and the devices needed to work and learn remotely. Much of the responsibility for addressing that gap will fall to the Federal Communications Commission, which is certain to make the effort its first priority. The FCC's gears don't move fast enough to flood the country with dollars for broadband on Biden's day one. But the FCC could, for instance, move quickly to expand broadband subsidies for schools and libraries to cover in-home internet, as agency veteran Amina Fazlullah notes in a paper for the Day One Project. That depends on having a functioning agency. Some conservatives are pushing for Senate Republicans to embark on a lame-duck sprint to confirm a Trump nominee to the FCC, which would leave the agency in a partisan deadlock.