/http/ Responds to Trump Comments on Digital Equity Act
The Digital Equity Act is vital to empowering American communities and strengthening U.S. leadership and global economic competitiveness
The Hispanic Tech and Telecommunications Partnerships (/HTTP/) is deeply concerned by the Trump Administration’s comments to end the Digital Equity Act’s grant funding. In 2021, Congress enacted this law as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to close the digital divide and ensure that all Americans have the information technology capacity and the skills needed for full participation in the digital economy. The Act was signed into law with the intent to close the digital divide while promoting America’s full economic potential. Further disruptions to digital empowerment efforts will prove costly to all consumers, local economies, and every single state who legally received grants in this bipartisan investment Act. As families grapple with rising prices for basic necessities, gutting the Digital Equity Act would be a step backwards that threatens economic growth, digital empowerment, and American competitiveness.
Funding provided by the Digital Equity Act is critical to implement digital empowerment projects that drive community-based solutions and expand access to technology in underserved areas. As we stated in our letter to congressional leadership in January 2025, comments aimed at discrediting DEA and BEAD funding are confusing and potentially create more waste, increase lack of government trust, and hinder efficient governing by trying to dismantle digital empowerment efforts when states across the nation are already deploying critical resources. These projects range from providing digital literacy skills to low-income populations, improving online accessibility of social services for individuals with disabilities, to providing more accurate measures of rural broadband access and adoption. Failure to equip communities with these tools risks creating permanent pockets of economic stagnation and missing out on untapped talent critical to filling advanced technology jobs. This is especially true for millions of Americans living in rural areas, where the effects of ending the Digital Equity Act’s grants will likely result in millions of disconnected families, and in the halting of local efforts to reskill and upskill workers, support students, and improve health outcomes for all.
Ending the Digital Equity Act’s grants will halt progress on critical goals and negatively impact underserved communities of all backgrounds and socioeconomic conditions across the United States.
/HTTP/ also continues to underscore that ending the Digital Equity Act’s funding will impede any efforts to enhance AI leadership and secure America’s global economic competitiveness. This is because without reliable digital access, millions of Americans will remain disconnected from the very technologies that are needed to achieve these goals, a predicament that could have negative long term repercussions on our economy and national security.
The Digital Equity Act received bipartisan support in Congress, reflecting a collective recognition of the importance of closing the digital divide by empowering all communities to access the digital economy. For this reason, /HTTP/ urges the Administration to reconsider the Digital Equity Act’s valuable investments into our economy and society. /HTTP/ will continue to ensure that all Americans have access to the digital tools and skills necessary for their success and are open to working with all who believe in those goals. The future of our nation depends on it.
