Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

On January 3, 2025, the 119th Congress was sworn in. Republicans now hold majorities in both the House and the Senate. With the incoming Trump administration, Congressional Republicans have a lengthy list of priorities.

As the 119th Congress convenes, the House's legislative and oversight agenda for all things broadband will likely start and live with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Here we look at changes in leadership in this key committee and how the priorities of these new leaders may impact broadband policy. Republicans tapped Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2) to chair the Commerce Committee. On December 20, Chairman Guthrie named Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC-09) to be Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology for the 119th Congress.

The recent surge in digital inclusion initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels has sparked increased interest among researchers and policymakers in evaluating their impact on the communities they aim to serve. Further, the growing array of programs and the solutions offered—such as subsidized broadband, digital literacy training, and digital navigation support—provide valuable opportunity to examine how these interventions affect communities and individuals who have historically lacked reliable broadband access or did not consistently use it.

After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit struck down the FCC’s net neutrality rules governing internet service providers, the following statements were released:

“Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair," said Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law.”

This week, Congress passed the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, this year's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law authorizes $895.2 billion for Department of Defense programs, defense-related activities, and national security programs in the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

In 2022, President Joe Biden (D-DE) signed the Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act, which directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to “incorporate publicly available data on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity into the agency’s Mapping Broadband Health in America platform, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The bipartisan bill was introduced in 2021 by Sens.

Earlier this year, a Benton Institute for Broadband & Society survey of low-income households found that 13 percent of Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) participants (approximately 3 million households) would disconnect their home internet service without the subsidy and 36 percent (or 8.3 million households) would downgrade to a cheaper or slower plan.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced, in late October 2024, that Indiana would receive over $15 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program created by Congress through the Digital Equity Act.

Prior to the election on November 5th, I wrote about Arizona’s Congressional races and the candidates’ positions and records on broadband issues. In the House, I highlighted two races: the 1st and 6th Districts. In both of those races, the Republican candidate prevailed, riding the wave of support for Donald Trump. In Arizona’s highly publicized Senate race, however, Democrat Ruben Gallego was able to find success despite Trump carrying the state in the presidential race.

Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress and the Biden Administration created the “Internet for All” Initiative, a $65 billion investment to ensure all Americans can access affordable, reliable, and high-speed internet. But with new leadership coming to the White House and the U.S. Senate in January, the promise of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act may not be realized. On November 21, 2024, incoming Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX), sent a pair of letters to the U.S.