Economic Development Administration (Department of Commerce)

Commerce Committee Approves 17 Bipartisan Bills and Advances Lutnick Nomination To Lead Commerce Department

The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee overwhelmingly approved 17 bipartisan bills and the nomination of Howard Lutnick to be Secretary of Commerce. The legislation passed touches almost all aspects of the Commerce Committee’s wide jurisdiction including transportation, weather and emergency forecasting, consumer protection and fee transparency, manufacturing and supply-chain resilience, oceans and fisheries, promoting tourism, and protecting children online. In addition to the nomination of Howard Lutnick, the committee approved bills including:

A New Source of Broadband Funding

The Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act, was signed into law in early January as part of the ‘larger Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (S. 4367). This bill authorizes the Economic Development Administration (EDA), which is part of the Department of Commerce, to award economic development grants to public-private partnerships or related consortiums to implement broadband infrastructure projects.

Restoring Freedom Of Speech And Ending Federal Censorship

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference.  Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve.

Return to In-Person Work

Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.

Regulatory Freeze Pending Review

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order all executive departments and agencies to take the following steps:

Hiring Freeze

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees, to be applied throughout the executive branch.  As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law.

Establishing And Implementing The President’s “Department Of Government Efficiency”

This Executive Order establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. The United States Digital Service is hereby publicly renamed as the United States DOGE Service (USDS) and shall be established in the Executive Office of the President. There shall be a USDS Administrator established in the Executive Office of the President who shall report to the White House Chief of Staff.

Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing

The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military.

Four Years of Transformation at the Department of Commerce

Under the Biden-Harris Administration and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo’s leadership, the Department of Commerce took a new approach to economic policy to turn the agency into an engine of innovation and growth. With transformational investments to enhance U.S. competitiveness, Secretary Raimondo worked to unite the Department’s bureaus and economic tools to ensure the United States can meet the challenges of the 21st century and lead for decades to come. Some highlights from the Department of Commerce under Secretary Raimondo:

$8 Billion of the $10 Billion Capital Projects Fund is being spent for broadband

Joseph Wender, director of the Capital Projects Fund (CPF), said that the program has awarded all the states and territories their portion of the $10 billion fund, and the awardees have decided to spend $8 billion on broadband infrastructure projects. The CPF was created as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which became law in March 2021. ARPA included a variety of programs to help Americans during and after the Covid crisis.