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  "description": "Call for reversal of Trump-era cuts as 22-state lawsuit challenges legal basis",
  "path": "/new-jersey-lawmakers-urge-restoration-of-digital-equity-funding/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-07-30T20:48:51.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_a post_",
    "_stated_",
    "_****There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...****_",
    "There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...",
    "_canceled_",
    "_challenged_",
    "_a joint scheduling order_"
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  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, July 30, 2025 – House Rep. **Rob Menendez** , D-N.J., led eight other members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation Tuesday in calling on the Trump administration to reverse its cancellation of $2.75 billion in Digital Equity Act funding.\n\nIn a letter sent to Commerce Secretary **Howard Lutnick** and NTIA Acting Administrator **Adam Cassady** ,**** the lawmakers demanded reinstatement of funds authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, including over $20 million previously expected for New Jersey.\n\n“Cutting digital equity funding means denying seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, & other vulnerable Americans the tools they need to thrive in today’s economy,” Menendez said in _a post_ to X. “My colleagues and I are demanding that they immediately reverse course,” he _stated_.\n\n\n\n_****There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...****_\n\n There's a whole community behind your FREE membership... \n\nJoining Menendez in signing the letter were N.J. Democrats **Frank Pallone** ,**Donald Norcross** , **Herb Conaway** , **Josh Gottheimer** , **Nellie Pou** , **LaMonica McIver** , **Mikie Sherrill** , and **Bonnie Watson Coleman**.\n\nThe letter cites widespread support for Digital Equity Act grants, appropriated in 2021, which would fund digital skills training, telehealth access, workforce education, and device distribution for low-income households, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities.\n\nIn 2024, the NTIA had approved more than $18 million for New Jersey’s digital equity plan, with the state eligible for $5 million more through competitive grants. But in May 2025, the Trump administration abruptly _canceled_ the entire program, calling it “racist” and “unconstitutional.”\n\n###  _Timeline in multistate suit challenging grant dismissals_\n\nA coalition of 22 states has _challenged_ the Trump administration’s interpretation of a federal grant termination rule that has been used to unilaterally cancel billions in Congressionally authorized funding, including the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act.\n\nFiled June 24 in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, the suit targets a provision in federal grant regulations that allows an agency to terminate funding “if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities” – the very rationale used by the Trump administration to cancel the DEA.\n\nThe case, _State of New Jersey et al. v. U.S. Office of Management and Budget et al._ , has not yet reached the stage of oral arguments or evidentiary hearings. But _a joint scheduling order_ issued July 25 set the path forward.\n\nThe states will file their first major brief on August 4, asking the court to rule on Count I of their complaint, which seeks a declaratory judgment that the administration’s legal justification for canceling grants is invalid.\n\nDefendants, representing more than a dozen federal agencies and senior officials, were expected to file their combined motion to dismiss and/or counter-motion for summary judgment by September 11. Final briefs were scheduled through mid-November.",
  "title": "New Jersey Lawmakers Urge Restoration of Digital Equity Funding",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T05:48:52.438Z"
}