The extra money that flowed from the federal government during the pandemic has left districts in New Mexico with a problem. The pandemic boosted internet access for students. That’s in part because school districts purchased devices with relief money. These days, around 285,000 students in the state have a school-issued device, says John Chadwick, digital equity coordinator for the New Mexico Department of Education. Even so, there are still “connectivity deserts”—areas where access to the internet is limited—particularly in tribal and rural lands. In all, about 8 percent of K-12 students in New Mexico still lack devices, Chadwick estimates. But right now, it’s important to avoid losing progress. The federal government calculates that 92 percent of school districts used federal relief money to purchase edtech, including devices and other expenditures related to digital access such as software. That increased the number of students able to access the internet for learning, a rare perk resulting from the pandemic. But with federal pandemic funding over, it’s unclear whether these online gains can be sustained.

Vice President JD Vance warned Europe not to adopt “overly precautionary” regulations on artificial intelligence as America and the UK refused to join dozens of other countries in signing a declaration to ensure that the technology was “safe, secure and trustworthy”.  The two countries held back from signing the communique agreed by about 60 states at the AI Action summit in Paris, dealing a setback to efforts led by French President Emmanuel Macron to build international consensus around the technology. “The Trump administration will ensure that the most powerful AI systems are built in the US, with American-designed and manufactured chips,” Vance told an audience of world leaders and tech executives. “America wants to partner with all of you . . . but to create that kind of trust, we need international regulatory regimes that foster the creation of AI technology rather than strangle it,” he added. 

The GOP's Hill leaders are signaling their eagerness to back up Elon Musk by turning DOGE spending cuts into real legislation. Musk's slash-and-burn cuts may be undone by the courts. But he's given congressional Republicans a blueprint for what's possible to cut. "I think that anything that DOGE does will be factored into what we do up here," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). Republicans need to do some serious unifying if they want to pass party-line spending cuts. Ten GOP senators and 34 House members voted in December against the government funding stopgap. But DOGE-inspired cuts might help get the House's rowdy Freedom Caucus and senators like Rand Paul (R-KY) to vote yes on some bills—as long as specific cuts don't create new GOP "no" votes.

Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. House Commerce is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee. The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has jurisdiction over “electronic communications, both interstate and foreign, including voice, video, audio and data, whether transmitted by wire or wirelessly, and whether transmitted by telecommunications, commercial or private mobile service, broadcast, cable, satellite, microwave, or other modes; technology generally; emergency and public safety communications; cybersecurity, privacy, and data security; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)." Previously, we looked at the Republican leadership of the committee. Here, we take a look at the broadband priorities of the rank-and-file Republican members.