Breaking Biden’s Broadband Boom

On March 5, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing titled “Fixing Biden’s Broadband Blunders.” This title, chosen by wordsmiths in the Republican majority, hints at the policy direction the current Congress and Administration might take: undermining the progress the U.S. is making towards universal connectivity. As you review the record, you might ask, ‘What were Biden’s blunders?’ and ‘What exactly are the proposed fixes?’ President Biden invested more in broadband than any president in history. Most of his administration’s programs were completed (or nearly completed) while he was in office. But his largest programs—the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) and the Digital Equity Act Programs—are unfinished. Thus, it is left to the current Congress and Administration to decide how (or even if) these programs should be completed.