- NDIA is suing Trump over cancelling $2.75B in Digital Equity Act funding
- The move follows a June lawsuit filed by more than 20 states
- Analyst Blair Levin argued NDIA has a good case since Trump didn’t consult Congress before terminating the grants
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) is suing the Trump administration for cancelling $2.75 billion in Digital Equity Act funding.
The lawsuit, filed October 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argued President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate funds “violates the separation of powers” and “far exceeds the constitutional authority of the Executive Branch.” NDIA is asking the court to issue a declaratory judgment stating the Digital Equity Act programs were a lawful act of Congress.
The Digital Equity Act, passed in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), was comprised of three programs designed to help states expand digital literacy and address barriers to accessing the internet. Trump cancelled the grants in May, bringing many state plans to a screeching halt.
NDIA, which was one of 65 organizations that won funding, planned to use the money to launch a new digital navigator program that it said would have helped over 30,000 people in 11 states.
“The termination also failed to provide NDIA or any other recipient with ‘an opportunity to object and provide information challenging the action’ in violation of the regulations governing Commerce grant awards,” NDIA wrote in its complaint.
It’s not the first time Trump’s move spurred legal action. More than 20 states in June filed a lawsuit against several federal agencies, including the Department of Commerce, arguing that withholding funds allocated by Congress is illegal. What’s different now is NDIA specifically named Trump as one of the defendants.
The grant cancellations came as the administration undertakes efforts to scrub diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from both the public and private sectors. Telcos like T-Mobile and Verizon also had to roll back their DEI programs to receive federal M&A approval.
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society called NDIA’s lawsuit “an unfortunately necessary step” if the U.S. wants to close its digital divide.
“As we invest billions of dollars to build broadband networks, we should make sure people can actually use them,” said Benton’s director of policy engagement Drew Garner in a statement.
The legal issue
New Street Research Policy Analyst Blair Levin said while it’s unlikely the Trump admin will change its point of view, NDIA has a good case in that the White House should "faithfully carry out the laws" passed by Congress, “not cherry pick the ones it wants to enforce and otherwise ignore the ones it does not like.”
The Trump administration determined the Digital Equity Act programs were unconstitutional not by legal proceedings with briefs but via “executive fiat in a tweet,” he told Fierce, noting the White House didn’t ask Congress to clarify or fix the law.
Levin also pointed out doing away with these programs is at odds with Trump’s goal to make the U.S. a leader in the AI economy.
“That is, if we want to optimize using AI, we should want all Americans to be digitally literate,” he said.
Furthermore, Trump shut down “relatively inexpensive efforts to improve digital inclusion” but is keeping the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program afloat. Even though BEAD is arguably “Biden's largest DEI program,” Levin noted.
BEAD is still trucking along as states revise their plans to adhere to NTIA’s tech-neutral policy, but the agency’s cost caps could require them to make additional changes. It also remains unclear whether states will have to return non-deployment funds – money for digital literacy and similar efforts – back to NTIA.