President Donald Trump said he was ending a little-known internet initiative that former President Joe Biden buried in his 2021 $1 trillion infrastructure law.
Trump wrote on social media that Biden’s Digital Equity Act (DEA), intended to provide digital service to lower-income communities, was “unconstitutional” and “racist.” He added that ending the program would save the country billions of dollars.
“I have spoken with my wonderful Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and we agree that the Biden/Harris so-called ‘Digital Equity Act’ is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL,” Trump wrote Thursday morning on Truth Social.
“No more woke handouts based on race! The Digital Equity Program is a RACIST and ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway. I am ending this IMMEDIATELY, and saving Taxpayers BILLIONS OF DOLLARS!”
The DEA provides $2.75 billion in grants through programs administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Newsweek reported. The grants were appropriated through Congress.
The funding aims to “ensure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy,” according to the NTIA website.
Drafted by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the DEA provides $60 million in grants to states and territories to help them come up with plans to make internet access more equal, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper added that hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding were approved by the Biden administration just before Trump took office in January, but have not been distributed yet.
Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), argued that Trump calling the DEA unconstitutional was “incorrect.”
“The Digital Equity Act was not an executive order issued at the whim of one individual. It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress to help close the digital divide in rural, urban, and Tribal communities. 56 States and Territories are counting on the funds to implement essential programs across their states, and their work is already underway,” Siefer said in a statement.
The cancellation of grants to states likely would be challenged in the courts, the Times reported.
The Trump administration took office with the aim of reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. Among it’s moves was to demand that recipients of grants stop diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.