The administration’s ban of federal funding for initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility has already impacted digital equity work in the U.S. The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program and the Digital Equity Act (DEA) are currently on hold; both of these programs were enacted by Congress as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The ability to make resource allocation decisions belongs to Congress. It is the job of civil servants to execute the laws, former BEAD Program Director Evan Feinman told Government Technology.
Trump referred to the DEA as “unconstitutional” in a post Thursday on Truth Social, stating that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is in agreement: “I am ending this immediately, and saving taxpayers billions of dollars!”
While Trump’s Truth Social post referred to the DEA as “racist,” he did not elaborate to explain how.
Aspen Digital’s Senior Director Zaki Barzinji argued that equity-focused initiatives actually aim to serve people across ethnic backgrounds — and that there is support for digital equity programming across political parties.
“The truth is, equity is not just for communities of color,” Barzinji said. “It's not just for urban city communities. It's also for rural communities. It's for mostly white communities.”
Digital equity advocates have already responded to the president’s statement.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and DEA author, indicated in a statement that the president does not understand what this program does, underlining that the DEA passed with bipartisan support to provide resources to communities in both red and blue states.
The DEA offers funding to help students gain access to tools like hot spots and laptops and it provides funding for digital literacy programming for seniors — including in rural areas, as emphasized in Murray’s statement.
In contrast, Sen. Ted Cruz demonstrated support for the president’s move in a post on X: “I am glad that President Trump and his team will finally be putting an end to this impermissible discrimination.”
National Digital Inclusion Alliance Executive Director Angela Siefer also released a statement criticizing the president’s “incorrect” claim that the DEA is unconstitutional. She, too, underlined its “overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress.”
“Now, a Truth Social post has put ours and 65+ other community-based trusted digital inclusion programs at risk, and real people are about to pay the price,” Siefer said, calling on Congress to reject this move. “Digital equity is not partisan.”
NDIA’s subgrantees were prepared to launch 13 programs in 11 states starting March 1; these were put on hold even after having signed agreements with the federal government in place.
In a statement, Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, senior director at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Center for Civil Rights and Technology, called out a warning to federal elected officials.
“Members of Congress should be deeply alarmed that their authority is being undermined yet again,” she said. The group is a coalition of more than 240 national organizations.
IS THE DEA OVER?
As of this writing, the DEA has not been ended. And questions remain as to precisely what Trump’s declaration will mean.
Three programs exist under the DEA that could be impacted: the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program and the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program.
The $2.75 billion DEA supports efforts to achieve digital equity through capacity building, digital inclusion projects, and research to support evidence-based policymaking. Its supported initiatives range from strengthening the workforce to reducing barriers to education to expanding access to online health-care services.
Trump’s call to end the program may face challenges in court, as was the case when the Office of Management and Budget tried to enact a freeze on federal funding to states from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
At that time, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan criticized the attempt to seize the power to make funding decisions from “the only branch of government entitled to wield it.”
No infrastructure-related disruptions were expected to occur under this administration, and states have already done planning work on connectivity. If the DEA is ended, those plans may be impacted.
If that happens, Prem Trivedi, policy director at New America’s Open Technology Institute, predicted “millions of Americans will suffer,” in a statement.
“Ending this $2.75 billion portion of the 2021 Infrastructure Law will deprive veterans, rural residents, senior citizens, people with disabilities, and many other Americans of the investment and support they need to access vital services and economic opportunities that are increasingly only accessible through high-speed broadband connections,” Trivedi said.
A president, Trivedi argued, cannot end a federal statute. Only Congress, he said, has the power to amend or repeal it.
