The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation reports…

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Vice Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, today demanded answers from Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Arielle Roth about why the Trump Administration has frozen the distribution of nearly $1 billion in congressionally-approved broadband grants to Native communities.

NTIA has frozen the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP), leaving roughly $980 million in Round 2 funding unobligated despite applications closing in March 2024. Additionally, $294 million in grants announced in December 2024 have not been distributed, and existing grant recipients report concerns that NTIA may impose new requirements or claw back previously awarded funds. …
To date, the TBCP has awarded $2.24 billion to 275 Tribal projects across the nation, including approximately $100 million to 19 projects in the State of Washington and $89 million to projects on Hawaiian Home Lands in the State of Hawai’i.