Inequity is Not Inevitable: Save the Digital Equity Act

Inequity is not inevitable. It surfaces through rhetoric from leaders, personnel that mirror the values (or lack thereof) of said leaders, funding structures, policy implementation, and court decisions. In other words, inequity does not appear out of thin air. Inequity begins with an idea from someone’s imagination. It is only through power, resource allocation, and replication that an idea can take shape, gain traction, and impact lives. And it is only through an honest and accurate diagnosis of the problem that we can begin to dismantle the structures, ideas, and systems that perpetuate harm and uphold it, and replace them with systems that allow everyone to thrive.

One year ago today, on May 8, 2025, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he intended to kill the Digital Equity Act. His administration followed through. The Department of Commerce terminated grants under the program, froze the remaining funds out of the $2.75 billion Congress had appropriated, and declared the statute itself unconstitutional. None of that is the president’s call to make. Congress passed the Digital Equity Act in 2021 as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The executive branch cannot repeal a law via a social media post. A lawsuit is now pending, Congress can act, and there is still time to save the program.

President Trump has attempted to strip away Congress’ budgetary control by taking a sledgehammer to worthwhile, bipartisan grant programs that provide essentials like connectivity for the nation’s most vulnerable consumers, including his loudest and proudest supporters. 

In the FY 2027 budget proposal from the White House, the administration urges Congress to cancel the funding for the Digital Equity Act. Their reasoning is that it is “explicitly prioritizing members of racial and ethnic minority groups, people who do not speak English, and people incarcerated in non-Federal correctional facilities.” The strategy is clear. Muddy the waters and create divisions by portraying only some qualified recipients as deserving and portraying others as undeserving – moving our country ever closer to an exclusionary vision of America where power is concentrated among the few. 

The Digital Equity Act passed as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The programs under this act were designed to ensure rural communities, low-income households, aging populations, communities of color, and veterans are meaningfully part of the digital ecosystem. More specifically, the goal of the Digital Equity Act programs is to create robust broadband adoption efforts meant to provide people with opportunities to access affordable, reliable broadband, connected devices, and the skills needed to safely navigate the Internet.

The Digital Equity Act also makes the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment funding, which is intended to support both infrastructure and non-deployment efforts, more meaningful by ensuring there are consumers who are actually able to adopt the broadband services being made available to them in unserved and underserved areas. Think of it this way. If someone is given a car to make a 15-mile journey to work, but no one has ever taught them how to drive, and they don’t have the money to put $4.30 a gallon worth of gas in it, they’re essentially left with a very heavy paperweight in their driveway. Similarly, the expansion of broadband infrastructure without adequately addressing affordability and digital skills risks leaving many households unable to experience the impacts of true connectivity. This is not a controversial view. It is supported by industry and civil society alike, especially the hundreds of local communities who have created jobs and local partnerships to support this underfunded resource.

The Trump administration has undeniably demonstrated through rhetoric and actions its desire to deepen the suffering of Black people and other people of color both in the United States and abroad. One of the ways this administration is seeking to accomplish this goal is by recklessly abandoning programs that acknowledge and seek to remedy the historic and present harms inflicted upon communities that have been intentionally or disparately pushed to the margins. In addition to harming people of color, the president’s scapegoating of people of color has the added harm of depriving millions of white Americans of the digital inclusion support they need, simply out of spite that people of color may benefit. 

The FY 2027 budget proposal is set to be yet another piece carrying this agenda forward. It tracks recommendations from Project 2025 and from think tanks that have called for dismantling federal digital inclusion work, and it follows a series of executive orders attacking civil rights enforcement across agencies. Through a convergence of this budget proposal, executive orders, the ideological agenda of conservative think tanks, and enough people who are dedicated to the project of dismantling our civil rights, the Digital Equity Act has ended up in the crosshairs. 

But we are not left without options to save the Digital Equity Act. 

First, Public Knowledge supports the National Digital Inclusion Alliance in their ongoing lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s repeal of the Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Program, where they challenge the “administration’s unilateral decision to end the statutory program and terminate grant funding is unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches as outlined in the Constitution.” 

Additionally, we continue to fiercely advocate before Congress to hold this administration accountable for its illegal cancellation of the Digital Equity Act through reinstitution of the funds, to instate protections against future impoundment attempts via the appropriations process, and to oppose future Digital Equity funding rescissions by way of any coming budget reconciliation measures or appropriations bills. We invite our partners and consumers to join us in this advocacy effort from May 8 to June 8, 2026 during our “Save the Digital Equity Act: Month of Action.”

This is about making digital inclusion a reality for all in need, protecting our civil rights, and preserving our democracy. As the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall advised, “Democracy just cannot flourish amid fear. Liberty cannot bloom amid hate. Justice cannot take root amid rage. America must get to work.”