A federal judge in July gave digital equity advocates a partial victory against President Donald Trump, stopping his attempt to unilaterally kill a multibillion-dollar grant program Congress created.<\/p>\n
But U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, in a 35-page opinion<\/a>, also agreed with the administration that it was unconstitutional for the government to use race or ethnicity as the basis to award money under a program created to expand internet skills and access.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely disappointing,\u201d said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit that filed suit last year after not receiving a nearly $26 million<\/a> award meant to bolster digital and internet skills nationwide. \u201cWith this administration it\u2019s really worrisome.\u201d<\/p>\n Congress passed the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act in 2021 as the skill development component of a multilayered \u201cInternet for All<\/a>\u201d initiative under President Joe Biden\u2019s signature infrastructure law, which included a bigger pot of money for expanding internet infrastructure.<\/p>\n A few months into his second term, Trump directly attacked the Digital Equity Act on social media, pledging \u201cno more woke handouts<\/a>\u201d and calling the program \u201cillegal.\u201d The language echoed two Trump executive orders characterizing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as illegal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees implementation of the law, responded by abruptly halting<\/a> Digital Equity Act grant programs, leaving states and organizations like the National Digital Inclusion Alliance in limbo.<\/p>\n Joe Burgei (left) helps Shaunta Harris Jr. with an online digital literacy course at a soup kitchen and homeless shelter in Defiance, Ohio. Burgei is a grant-funded digital navigator for the Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission, which operates the shelter. (Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission)<\/p>\n In response to Bates\u2019 decision, federal attorneys said the government would reinstate the NDIA-related competitive grant program without racial classification. The government aims to release a new grant application in December, according to a joint status report<\/a> filed in the case.<\/p>\n The NDIA now must reapply for the grant award, which was slated to be disbursed among more than a dozen organizations and tribes, including the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, El Centro Hispano in Arkansas, Portland Community College in Oregon, and Community Service Programs of West Alabama. The grants are meant to go toward digital navigator programs, in which community workers teach technology and internet skills, according to the NDIA.<\/p>\n In western Ohio, Jamie Huber said her organization was a subrecipient of the NDIA grant funds. Huber, director of community services at the Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission, said that without the funding, she is left searching for money to continue navigator programs such as one she runs for people who are unemployed, homeless, or both.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you find a home? Well, you got to look online. And how do you find a job? You have to look online,\u201d Huber said.<\/p>\n Huber\u2019s digital navigators also teach internet skills at 10 senior centers in rural counties stretching along the corner of Ohio bordering Michigan and Indiana. They help active older adults learn how to go online to pay bills and get healthcare, so they \u201ccontinue having agency over their own life,\u201d Huber said.<\/p>\n Rural residents live sicker and die younger on average than people in the rest of the country when they live in counties lacking high-speed internet access and healthcare, an analysis by KFF Health News<\/a> found.<\/p>\n At Computer Reach in western Pennsylvania, Executive Director Dave Sevick said his organization has cut staff and programs. He said the nonprofit, which started in 2001, has refurbished more than 24,000 computers, giving them away to families it finds through schools and churches.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re aware that affordability is the biggest issue around, and this doesn\u2019t make it any better for folks,\u201d Sevick said. \u201cWe\u2019re helping a little bit by getting a free computer out to people.\u201d<\/p>\n The Digital Equity Act lists exactly whom<\/a> the money should benefit, including low-income households, older people, some incarcerated people, rural Americans, veterans, and members of racial or ethnic minority groups.<\/p>\n According to 2025 polling<\/a> by the Pew Research Center, people in rural communities were less likely to have internet subscriptions compared with their urban and suburban counterparts.<\/p>\n The Pew Research polling also revealed<\/a> that home broadband use among Black and Hispanic adults lagged that of white and Asian adults. While 81% of white adults surveyed said they subscribed to broadband at home, only 71% of Black adults and 68% of Hispanic adults said the same.<\/p>\n Megan Hahn teaches class attendees how to use an online health portal at the Swanton Senior Center in Swanton, Ohio. Hahn is a digital navigator with the Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission. The group\u2019s work is supported by local, state, and federal grants. (Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission)<\/p>\n In court, lead federal attorney Patrick Butler argued that Congress failed to prove a compelling government interest when including the racial or ethnic criteria. Congress did not \u201cidentify anything close to\u201d a specific instance of discrimination in the broadband industry, Butler said, according to the transcript<\/a>.<\/p>\n Butler then surprised the court, saying that<\/a> if the racial or ethnic status could be severed from the law, \u201cwe would obviously apply the grant program without considering race.\u201d<\/p>\n In his opinion severing the race factor, Bates wrote that the court agreed<\/a> that \u201cthe President lacks the power to cancel laws passed by Congress based on his bald disagreement with Congress\u2019s policy determinations.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a primary sponsor of the law<\/a>, said she will be \u201cwatching very carefully to ensure this administration does what Congress intended.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is indisputable that these challenges are particularly pronounced in low income, rural, and Tribal communities \u2014 and there\u2019s a reason Democrats and Republicans across the country support this program so strongly,\u201d Murray said in a statement to KFF Health News.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) voted against<\/a> Biden\u2019s infrastructure bill in 2021 and sent a letter<\/a> to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in late 2024 asking the agency to pause the $1.25 billion competitive grants program, arguing the use of racial classifications \u201cdoes not serve a compelling governmental interest.\u201d Cruz did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Arielle Roth, administrator of the agency, previously worked as the telecommunications policy director for the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee\u2019s majority staff under Cruz. She was appointed by Trump<\/a> to lead the agency.<\/p>\n Burgei gives Paul Helbling (right) tips for using his smartphone during a session at the Henry County Senior Center in Napoleon, Ohio. Burgei\u2019s job as a digital navigator has been supported by local, state, and federal grants. (Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission)<\/p>\n In June, during a House committee hearing, Roth had tense exchanges with Democrats who took issue with changes to the Biden-era infrastructure law\u2019s internet deployment program, which now allows more satellite services rather than prioritizing fiber-optic cable lines.<\/p>\n Lawmakers also asked about the Digital Equity Act\u2019s grant programs.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunities across the country deserve a clear answer and a path forward,\u201d Rep. Nanette Barrag\u00e1n (D-Calif.) said during the hearing. While the National Digital Inclusion Alliance\u2019s lawsuit does not include the state grants, Barrag\u00e1n asked how those grants would be rolled out, considering the federal judge\u2019s decision on race.<\/p>\n California was awarded a $70 million state capacity grant. Early this year, the Justice Department sent a letter<\/a> to Congress asserting that the state grant and the competitive grant program both are illegally based on race, citing the Supreme Court\u2019s decision invalidating affirmative action in higher education admissions. Roth declined to answer Barrag\u00e1n\u2019s question, noting there is active litigation.<\/p>\n Barrag\u00e1n said she was \u201cextremely\u201d frustrated by \u201csome of the responses or nonresponses.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephen Yusko, a spokesperson with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, declined to comment or respond to questions for this article.<\/p>\n The government and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance agreed to pause court proceedings to give the agency time to reinstate the competitive grant program. The NDIA has also proposed that the agency provide status reports every 30 days during the court pause \u201cto ensure prompt attention to reinstatement,\u201d according to the most recent court filing<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure it\u2019s all moving forward,\u201d Siefer said.<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on KFF Health News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A federal judge in July gave digital equity advocates a partial victory against President Donald Trump, stopping his attempt to unilaterally kill a multibillion-dollar grant program Congress created. But U.S. District Judge John D. 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