The opposition is not limited to state-level Republicans. Hard-line Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, (R-A.), Josh Hawley, (R-MO), Rand Paul, (R-KY), and Ron Johnson, (R-WI), have joined Democrats in calling the provision federal overreach that undermines states’ rights. I never thought I would agree on anything with Greene and the rest, but here we are. She has threatened to withdraw her support for the entire bill over the issue.
The timing of the provision is particularly obnoxious; after years of delay, $42.5 billion in BEAD funding had finally been allocated under the Biden administration. Then in June, the Trump administration rewrote BEAD’s rules and dumped all the previously awarded contracts.
Now, internet service providers (ISPs) that had been awarded funding must re-bid for the same contracts. Worse still, under President Donald J. Trump’s “tech-neutral” approach, companies such as Elon Musk’s Starlink will now get billions more. How much more? Under the original BEAD rules, Starlink would have gotten up to $4.1 billion. The new Musk-friendly approach could boost Starlink’s share to as much as $20 billion.
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