If the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Congress are looking for places to consolidate or eliminate potentially duplicative, wasteful spending, the 133 federal broadband programs spread across 15 federal agencies are a good place to start.  Following up on the May 31, 2023, Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found this duplication with a side-by-side comparison and analysis of these programs is more than warranted.  Everyone agrees that closing the digital divide is necessary, but as GAO noted, the duplication and overlap of these programs is making that more difficult, especially in areas of the country that are most in need of connecting to the internet.

The DOGE and Congress should assess the efficiency and effectiveness of each program by determining if it is operating as intended; if it duplicates or overlaps with another program or another agency; if the program’s administrators are requiring the money to be spent to achieve goals that are outside of the statute establishing the program; if the program’s goals are still current in today’s market; whether the program’s objectives can be achieved by the private sector; and if it can be consolidated with a better managed program in another agency. 

Having 133 broadband programs across 15 agencies is clearly excessive and wasteful.  It is time for these programs to be scrutinized so taxpayers are no longer forced to pay for those that are inefficient and ineffective and support the few that will not only work as intended but also deploy broadband to every remaining unserved and underserved business and household across the country that wishes to be connected to the internet.