Sen. Democrats Call for Stop to Funneling Money to Starlink in States

From potentially illegal giveaways to shady trade deals, Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s relationship has drawn a lot of scrutiny. Now, Democrats are honing back in on potential backdoor deals for the benefit of Musk’s satellite internet constellation. In a recent letter, Senate Democrats claimed the Trump administration is withholding broadband grants to funnel money to Starlink. The $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment fund is a federal grant program aimed at improving high-speed internet access nationwide. However, BEAD hit a major roadblock in January when Trump froze funding for its parent law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Then in April, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration further delayed BEAD for a detailed review. Last week, a group of Senate Democrats, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Commerce Committee Ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), sent an open letter to ... Read full article.