Taxpayers Deserve Their $24 Billion Broadband Refund

With the final numbers for deployment in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program now released, just 43 percent of the taxpayer funds allocated toward the initiative will be spent on the “D” part of that acronym.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the federal agency tasked with overseeing BEAD, announced on August 25 that the Illinois plan for funds distribution had been approved, marking the last of the 56 states and territories receiving authorization from NTIA on how they intend to implement the program.

“BEAD’s core mission is to ensure universal broadband availability across our country,” NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth said at an event in Virginia commemorating that state’s deployment efforts. “With all 56 final proposals now approved, we are achieving Congress’s vision of closing the digital divide once and for all.” 

In all, 3.79 million locations will receive broadband under BEAD, with 63 percent serviced by fiber, 22 percent serviced by low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite, and 13 serviced by fixed wireless.

Congress directed $42.45 billion in taxpayer money toward BEAD in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, with the expectation that the vast majority would be used for broadband deployment. Any unused funds were to go toward related usage such as digital literacy, public safety communications, and workforce training under the law. Some have suggested money be put into a fund to pay for alternative providers in the case of defaults under BEAD deployment.

Under the Trump Administration, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has implemented what he calls “the benefit of the bargain,” a philosophy that overhauls various federal programs to extract maximum value for American taxpayers. Lutnick overhauled BEAD to cut red tape such as labor and climate mandates and overly rigorous review. Perhaps most importantly, by implementing more lower-cost technologies such as LEO satellites and fixed wireless, and giving states flexibility in how they direct broadband infrastructure plans, deployment will cost taxpayers $18.19 billion.

Put another way, states are sitting on $24.26 billion in unused money, and they are now waiting on guidance from NTIA on how they can spend it.

There will continue to be plenty of debate on what to do with the non-deployment funds. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has been among the groups calling for Congress to claw back that money.

Unfortunately for taxpayers, with the horse already out of the barn, there may not be much appetite for the return of that money to the Treasury. Fourteen senators, including Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), previously penned a letter to NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth urging the administration to “preserve states’ ability to use their non-deployment BEAD funds consistent with congressional intent.”   

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) submitted the Recovering Excess Communications Appropriations while Protecting Telecommunications Upgrades, Reinvestment, and Expansion Act, or RECAPTURE Act, which would amend the IIJA to require remaining funds under BEAD to be used for deficit reduction. It has not seen much traction, however, having been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on November 10, 2025, with no further action taken.

The NTIA has held listening sessions to gather input on how the leftover money should be used. Roth said during a recent oversight hearing of the House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology that her agency expects to soon provide guidance on how states should use nondeployment funds.

The Trump Administration smartly cut the regulations that were holding back BEAD-related efforts to close the digital divide. But taxpayers will not experience the benefit of the bargain if $24.26 billion is simply shuffled to other uses within the program.