News

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump urging the administration to quickly remove burdensome regulations that have stopped the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program from connecting any American to reliable broadband. KEY EXCERPT: “The Biden administration added unnecessary and burdensome requirements that made participation in the program more expensive and less attractive to broadband providers. These include labor and climate change requirements, as well as rate regulation of low-cost broadband plans that were unlawfully imposed.  “To address these issues, we introduced the Streamlining Program Efficiency and Expanding Deployment (SPEED) for BEAD Act, which outlines necessary reforms to BEAD. We appreciate that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is undertaking a review of the program and urge any reforms to be enacted as soon as possible.” BACKGROUND: On March 5, 2025,  Congressman Hudson introduced  the SPEED for BEAD Act to remove harmful regulations that have prevented the $42 billion program from laying even a single inch of fiber to support rural Americans. Also on March 5, 2025, the Committee on Energy and Commerce  held a hearing  to discuss the BEAD program titled  Fixing Biden’s Broadband Blunder. CLICK HERE to read the full letter. ###

189 Republican Members of Congress, including House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers and House Republican Leadership, urged the Biden Administration to abandon their censorship mission and respond to inquiries regarding their coordination with social media companies to censor Americans.  As reported by FOX Business:  EXCLUSIVE : House Republicans on Thursday called on President Biden to turn over the details of his campaign to clamp down on social media coronavirus misinformation while blasting the effort as government-sponsored censorship that rivals Communist Cuba.   Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, penned a letter to Biden on Thursday with the support of 189 of her GOP colleagues to oppose the White House’s efforts to flag posts that spread disinformation about coronavirus vaccinations to Facebook and seek their removal.    "The federal government’s ongoing efforts to pressure private companies to censor speech that it disagrees with is alarming and an affront to the First Amendment," the GOP House members wrote in a letter first obtained by Fox.    "It is the type of behavior we would expect from a Cuban dictator, not a President of the United States," the lawmakers added.    House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, Whip Steve Scalise and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik were among the authors of the letter to Biden. The Republicans argue that government should not be involved in policing social media speech..."   CLICK HERE to read the full story on FOX Business.   CLICK HERE to read the GOP’s letter to President Biden.    The members ask President Biden:   “As staunch defenders of the First Amendment and free speech, our position is simple: the answer to speech you disagree with should be more speech, not less. As the President of the United States, you have a duty to defend the Constitution. Every American cherishes free speech, but your administration is attacking this fundamental right.”  Please provide a list of every social media company the Biden-Harris administration is working with to censor content your administration deems as “disinformation.”  Please provide a complete list of the social media posts and content the Biden-Harris administration has flagged for social media companies to censor and identify which company such content was requested to be removed from.  Please provide a complete list of social media users the Biden-Harris administration has requested social media companies to suspend or ban and identify which company such requests were made of.  Please produce any written policy or plan outlining the Biden-Harris administration’s censorship program.”