Millions of Americans could lose internet aid months before the 2024 election

More recently in September, the IG
chided the commission and described an internet service provider that improperly claimed nearly $50 million in benefits over a year and had to voluntarily repay the government. Within hours, the FCC
announced additional measures to bolster program accountability.

The FCC’s inspector general is conducting a broader performance audit of the agency’s implementation of the Affordable Connectivity Program, with results expected by early 2024. Some Republicans want to see the findings before deciding how to proceed. The FCC, for its part, has said the agency would resolve the entirety of GAO concerns by the end of 2023.

House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), whose panel oversees the FCC and would be central to any legislative negotiations, has declined to say whether she would support a boost of funding. In addition to the fraud concerns, she and other Republicans have questioned whether the aid is truly increasing broadband access for Americans who need it and seem to suspect many enrollees would be able to afford broadband without it.

“We’re still looking at it and trying to get more feedback as far as where the money’s been used,” she told POLITICO in September.

Republicans seem to think a lapse may not be as dire as Democrats think, and aren’t ruling out letting the program simply expire. During the Nov. 30 House hearing, Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) downplayed the consequences of a lapse. He posited a certain share of the 22 million low-income households had likely subscribed to broadband internet before the benefit, even though they had to pay more, and said he wanted clearer data addressing that.

The GOP concerns could lead to a negotiated solution where lawmakers restrict the eligibility criteria or subsidy amounts in exchange for further funding, although there is likely to be much sparring over what changes to make, if any. And there’s currently little bipartisan discussion apparent at all.

Joel Thayer, a telecom lawyer and former GOP staffer who leads a nonprofit called the Digital Progress Institute, is concerned the partisan bickering could backfire on Republicans, who will take the blame if the program ends. And he predicted broad backlash: “I don’t care what political party you’re in. You’re about to get a lot of angry calls when the ACP money runs out.”

The program does have some Republican support. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) led a letter signed by eight Republicans asking the White House to support the program in June by using unobligated Covid aid. And in August, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) signed onto a bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus letter asking to include more funding in an appropriations bill. Republican governors, too, are among
those seeking to pressure Congress.