Rural Americans Wait After Judge Delivers Mixed Ruling on Digital Equity Dollars

Thursday, September 10, 2026 - 04:00

A federal judge in July gave digital equity advocates a partial victory against President Donald Trump, stopping his attempt to unilaterally kill a multibillion-dollar grant program Congress created.

But U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, in a 35-page opinion, also agreed with the administration that it was unconstitutional for the government to use race or ethnicity as the basis to award money under a program created to expand internet skills and access.

“It was definitely disappointing,” said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit that filed suit last year after not receiving a nearly $26 million award meant to bolster digital and internet skills nationwide. “With this administration it’s really worrisome.”

Congress passed the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act in 2021 as the skill development component of a multilayered “Internet for All” initiative under President Joe Biden’s signature infrastructure law, which included a bigger pot of money for expanding internet infrastructure.

A few months into his second term, Trump directly attacked the Digital Equity Act on social media, pledging “no more woke handouts” and calling the program “illegal.” The language echoed two Trump executive orders characterizing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as illegal.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees implementation of the law, responded by abruptly halting Digital Equity Act grant programs, leaving states and organizations like the National Digital Inclusion Alliance in limbo.

Joe Burgei (left) helps Shaunta Harris Jr. with an online digital literacy course at a soup kitchen and homeless shelter in Defiance, Ohio. Burgei is a grant-funded digital navigator for the Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission, which operates the shelter. (Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission)

In response to Bates’ decision, federal attorneys said the government would reinstate the NDIA-related competitive grant program without racial classification. The government aims to release a new grant application in December, according to a joint status report filed in the case.

The NDIA now must reapply for the grant award, which was slated to be disbursed among more than a dozen organizations and tribes, including the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, El Centro Hispano in Arkansas, Portland Community College in Oregon, and Community Service Programs of West Alabama. The grants are meant to go toward digital navigator programs, in which community workers teach technology and internet skills, according to the NDIA.

In western Ohio, Jamie Huber said her organization was a subrecipient of the NDIA grant funds. Huber, director of community services at the Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission, said that without the funding, she is left searching for money to continue navigator programs such as one she runs for people who are unemployed, homeless, or both.

“How do you find a home? Well, you got to look online. And how do you find a job? You have to look online,” Huber said.

Huber’s digital navigators also teach internet skills at 10 senior centers in rural counties stretching along the corner of Ohio bordering Michigan and Indiana. They help active older adults learn how to go online to pay bills and get healthcare, so they “continue having agency over their own life,” Huber said.

Rural residents live sicker and die younger on average than people in the rest of the country when they live in counties lacking high-speed internet access and healthcare, an analysis by KFF Health News found.

At Computer Reach in western Pennsylvania, Executive Director Dave Sevick said his organization has cut staff and programs. He said the nonprofit, which started in 2001, has refurbished more than 24,000 computers, giving them away to families it finds through schools and churches.

“We’re aware that affordability is the biggest issue around, and this doesn’t make it any better for folks,” Sevick said. “We’re helping a little bit by getting a free computer out to people.”

The Digital Equity Act lists exactly whom the money should benefit, including low-income households, older people, some incarcerated people, rural Americans, veterans, and members of racial or ethnic minority groups.

According to 2025 polling by the Pew Research Center, people in rural communities were less likely to have internet subscriptions compared with their urban and suburban counterparts.

The Pew Research polling also revealed that home broadband use among Black and Hispanic adults lagged that of white and Asian adults. While 81% of white adults surveyed said they subscribed to broadband at home, only 71% of Black adults and 68% of Hispanic adults said the same.

Megan Hahn teaches class attendees how to use an online health portal at the Swanton Senior Center in Swanton, Ohio. Hahn is a digital navigator with the Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission. The group’s work is supported by local, state, and federal grants. (Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission)

In court, lead federal attorney Patrick Butler argued that Congress failed to prove a compelling government interest when including the racial or ethnic criteria. Congress did not “identify anything close to” a specific instance of discrimination in the broadband industry, Butler said, according to the transcript.

Butler then surprised the court, saying that if the racial or ethnic status could be severed from the law, “we would obviously apply the grant program without considering race.”

In his opinion severing the race factor, Bates wrote that the court agreed that “the President lacks the power to cancel laws passed by Congress based on his bald disagreement with Congress’s policy determinations.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a primary sponsor of the law, said she will be “watching very carefully to ensure this administration does what Congress intended.”

“It is indisputable that these challenges are particularly pronounced in low income, rural, and Tribal communities — and there’s a reason Democrats and Republicans across the country support this program so strongly,” Murray said in a statement to KFF Health News.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) voted against Biden’s infrastructure bill in 2021 and sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in late 2024 asking the agency to pause the $1.25 billion competitive grants program, arguing the use of racial classifications “does not serve a compelling governmental interest.” Cruz did not respond to requests for comment.

Arielle Roth, administrator of the agency, previously worked as the telecommunications policy director for the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee’s majority staff under Cruz. She was appointed by Trump to lead the agency.

Burgei gives Paul Helbling (right) tips for using his smartphone during a session at the Henry County Senior Center in Napoleon, Ohio. Burgei’s job as a digital navigator has been supported by local, state, and federal grants. (Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission)

In June, during a House committee hearing, Roth had tense exchanges with Democrats who took issue with changes to the Biden-era infrastructure law’s internet deployment program, which now allows more satellite services rather than prioritizing fiber-optic cable lines.

Lawmakers also asked about the Digital Equity Act’s grant programs.

“Communities across the country deserve a clear answer and a path forward,” Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) said during the hearing. While the National Digital Inclusion Alliance’s lawsuit does not include the state grants, Barragán asked how those grants would be rolled out, considering the federal judge’s decision on race.

California was awarded a $70 million state capacity grant. Early this year, the Justice Department sent a letter to Congress asserting that the state grant and the competitive grant program both are illegally based on race, citing the Supreme Court’s decision invalidating affirmative action in higher education admissions. Roth declined to answer Barragán’s question, noting there is active litigation.

Barragán said she was “extremely” frustrated by “some of the responses or nonresponses.”

Stephen Yusko, a spokesperson with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, declined to comment or respond to questions for this article.

The government and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance agreed to pause court proceedings to give the agency time to reinstate the competitive grant program. The NDIA has also proposed that the agency provide status reports every 30 days during the court pause “to ensure prompt attention to reinstatement,” according to the most recent court filing.

“We need to make sure it’s all moving forward,” Siefer said.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Link:

https://kffhealthnews.org/race-and-health/digital-equity-act-trump-cuts-internet…

It’s Hard To Predict Who Will Be Suicidal. It’s Easier To Ensure People Can’t Shoot Themselves.

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.” Paul Nestadt is about as steeped in suicide prevention as a person can be. He treats suicidal patients as a psychiatrist, has co-authored scores of research papers on how and why people kill themselves, and teaches graduate courses on the subject. But he’ll be the first to admit: “I can’t tell you which of my patients is likely to die by suicide in the next six months.” Almost nobody can.

Health Journalists Visit Conservative Georgia District and Weigh AI Bioweapon Threat

Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed the findings of a recent cancer report on CBS News 24/7’s Mornings on Sept. 16. Gounder also discussed the potential of artificial intelligence to be used in developing biological weapons on CBS News’ CBS Mornings on Sept. 11.

Sticker Shock at the Doctor’s Office Could Motivate Midterm Voters

Healthcare prices are likely to keep increasing next year. As midterm elections approach, candidates are laying out their plans to tackle these growing expenses. KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner joined WAMU’s Health Hub on Sept. 16 to explain how healthcare could play a critical role in the midterm elections. She said similar cost increases in the early 2000s led to the debate that became the Affordable Care Act.

The Drugs and Devices Have Been on the Market for Years. But FDA-Ordered Studies Still Aren’t Done.

When the FDA was deciding whether to approve the drug Tavneos several years ago to treat a set of rare autoimmune diseases, agency experts argued that would be a mistake, according to FDA records. One problem cited: The manufacturer had provided only “limited safety data.” As it often does, the FDA in 2021 approved the drug with a proviso: It required the manufacturer to conduct an additional years-long safety study once the drug was on the market.

Cost-Saving Medicaid Meal Deliveries Threatened by Cuts, Policy Uncertainty

On a weekday morning in a quiet Boston neighborhood, a kitchen bustled with activity. Volunteers sliced chicken breasts, stuffed bell peppers, filled trays, and carefully labeled each item. It was part of an experiment to offer nutritious and medically tailored meals to Medicaid patients who are unable to shop for groceries and cook for themselves. “Once I started to eat these meals that were geared toward my illness, I built up my muscle mass again, built up my strength, built up my confidence in myself,” said Vanessa Georges, who is in remission from throat cancer and said she would...

Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’

The KFF Health News Minute is available every Thursday via direct download or the RSS feed. Sept. 17 Zach Dyer [DYE-er] reads the week’s news: The high cost of fertility treatment is making some Americans look abroad for help getting pregnant. Plus, a nonprofit in Austin, Texas, is trying to keep its city’s music scenes going by helping artists pay for health insurance. Your browser does not support the audio element. Can’t see the audio player? Visit kffhealthnews.org to listen. Sept. 10

3 Common Drugs Older Adults Might Be Overusing

The scenario often unfolds like this: Medical researchers investigate a frequently used drug and report that it’s less effective for older patients than previously thought, or that its risks outweigh its benefits in older adults. More studies follow, confirming those findings. After a few years, medical associations revise their guidelines, warning that the drug in question should be avoided or at least prescribed more selectively. It might be added to the Beers Criteria, an influential list of potentially inappropriate medications for older patients, published by the American Geriatrics...

California Eyes Prison Heat Protections That Fall Short of Workplace Standards

As Californians have weathered relentless heat waves, state workplace safety regulators have repeatedly reminded employers to protect employees from heat illness by providing water, shade, cooldown areas, and additional rest breaks when temperatures climb.

States Bet Big on Rural Health Startups, With a Silicon Valley Twist

Your browser does not support the audio element. Can’t see the audio player? Visit kffhealthnews.org to listen. When Josh Fleig, Louisiana’s chief innovation officer, learned his state had set aside $20 million a year, for five years, to invest in startup rural health companies, his reaction was not surprising: “Wow!” In rural America, where people are often reported to be sicker with poor access to healthcare, the cash influx is a relief. In the economic development space where Fleig operates, it’s an opportunity.

Outcome of Suit Against Department of Labor Could Boost Skimpy Employer Health Plans

A long-running lawsuit challenging what it means to be an employee and therefore have access to work-based health plans is being closely watched by health policy analysts. Its outcome could spur the availability of lower-cost but potentially skimpier health coverage that skirts some consumer protections. Court papers indicate a settlement in the case against the Department of Labor may be in the works, although the parameters of any such deal are unknown.

Rising Healthcare Costs Have Hit Georgia’s Most Conservative District. But Its Politics Are Unlikely To Change.

Amber Bates of Cohutta, Georgia, is one of thousands of people without health insurance in the 14th Congressional District, home to about 765,000 people in the northwestern corner of the state. She and her husband have not had health coverage for the past two years, Bates said, because their employment is unsteady and they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, the public health insurance for those with disabilities or low incomes.

A Cancer Survivor Hoped To Work — Then She Lost Her Medicaid Disability Coverage

Taya Hailstone has been in remission from childhood Hodgkin lymphoma for five years. But the cancer’s lasting damage to her organs and nerves can make basic tasks, like loading a dishwasher, hard. Still, Montana’s health department decided last year that Hailstone is no longer eligible for low-cost disability health coverage through Medicaid. The department switched her coverage to the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, another Medicaid program — three months before she aged out.

A Generation of Kids Suffer as Trump Destabilizes Immigrant Families

The little girl stared up at Norma Gómez from the doorway of her neighbor’s apartment, her sad, brown eyes suddenly flashing with hope. “Are you the person who’s going to bring my mom back?” she asked. Gómez struggled to find an answer. It was a December morning, and she’d brought food, diapers, baby wipes, and clothes — items she hoped would help the 6-year-old girl, her baby brother, and the neighbor who had stepped in to care for them. The children were left alone after federal immigration agents arrested their parents outside their apartment in Oxnard, a mostly Latino agricultural...

Journalists Detail Data on Suicide, Primary Care Shortages, and Gun Violence

KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani discussed Louisiana sheriffs’ spending of opioid settlement payouts on Attitude With Arnie Arnesen on Sept. 1. Pattani also discussed addressing loneliness and isolation as part of suicide prevention on Good Faith Media’s Our Stigma on Aug. 31.

Readers Wrestle With Healthcare Inequalities and Want a Word With Congress

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. Imbalance of Power — And Healthcare

Indigenous Groups Are Exempt From Medicaid Work Rules, but Native Hawaiians Aren’t

WAIANAE, Hawai‘i — Native Hawaiians will need to comply with new work requirements to qualify for Medicaid after being excluded from exemptions carved out for other Indigenous groups, an omission that clinicians fear will exacerbate the challenges the marginalized population already faces in getting healthcare. In 43 states and the District of Columbia, President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act will require most adults to work, go to school or enter a training program, or volunteer for at least 80 hours a month. Native Americans and Alaska Natives are exempt from the...

When a Friend Becomes a Caregiver

For several years, Nicole Straight and Patricia Wood, who lived across the street from each other in Sausalito, California, were more neighbors than friends, exchanging sociable greetings and occasionally having coffee. Then, last October, Wood took a fall, broke her neck, and spent three months in rehabilitation. When she returned to the house she shares with her niece, she couldn’t walk without assistance. “I still don’t dare go up and down stairs unless someone is with me,” said Wood, 93.

Rural Americans Wait After Judge Delivers Mixed Ruling on Digital Equity Dollars

A federal judge in July gave digital equity advocates a partial victory against President Donald Trump, stopping his attempt to unilaterally kill a multibillion-dollar grant program Congress created. But U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, in a 35-page opinion, also agreed with the administration that it was unconstitutional for the government to use race or ethnicity as the basis to award money under a program created to expand internet skills and access.

A NY Hospital Tried To Close Its Birthing Center. This City United To Fight Back.

TROY, N.Y. — Like many residents of this aging industrial city on the Hudson River, Starletta Washington was stunned when she heard Troy’s last remaining hospital planned to close its birthing center. “It was devastating,” said Washington, who heads the local YWCA. Washington was born at the hospital and had her children there. She couldn’t believe families would now have to get to a hospital half an hour away or face the prospect of an emergency delivery. “Nobody else was going to be born in the city of Troy unless they were born on a city bus, in the back of a cab, or, disgustingly, on the...

Nonprofits Are Helping Musicians Pay for Insurance in Austin, Texas, and Beyond

AUSTIN, Texas — Musician Zack Morgan jokes that when he lost his corporate job in 2015, it was like being pushed off a cliff. For years, he said, he’d been playing both sides of the Austin coin: tech worker by day, funk keyboardist by night. “Maybe this is my sign to try the full-time music thing,” Morgan recalled thinking. “Step one in that was: Get health insurance again.” Austin bills itself as “the Live Music Capital of the World,” but it can be unaffordable for the artists who provide the city with its cultural cachet — and help drive its tourism revenue.

DISCLAIMER: The information found on this Web Site is dynamic and subject to change. Please use the "CONTACT US" section of the Web Site to submit any questions or comments.