Gigi Sohn, the failed Democratic FCC nominee who was considered too radical even by Democrats, is criticizing Trump administration reforms to the $42.5 billion BEAD broadband program while reportedly working with some Republican state officials to undermine changes that remove DEI mandates and opened the program to satellite internet providers.
Gigi Sohn, the far-left failed nominee for the FCC, has been busy attacking President Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr over Jimmy Kimmel, but is actually focused on undermining the Trump Administration’s reforms to the wasteful $42.5 billion BEAD program, which is infested with DEI policies.
On September 29, she wrote on LinkedIn:
I’m now getting lots of press inquiries about this and the related Jimmy Kimmel suspension. Needless to say, it’s extremely important, but I wish there was as much press attention on how rural and low-income households are getting screwed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)’s changes to the BEAD program
Why is Sohn mad about NTIA’s changes to BEAD? As Breitbart previously reported, the BEAD boondoggle claimed to subsidize high-speed internet in underserved and sparsely populated areas. However, by design, it focused more on DEI mandates, climate rules, and political favoritism than on connecting rural America. Under Biden, BEAD excluded low-earth-orbit satellites such as Amazon’s Kuiper and SpaceX’s Starlink, while promoting politically connected and woke telecom, cable, and fiber companies.
Under the leadership of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Assistant Secretary for Telecommunications and Information Arielle Roth, the Trump administration revoked the DEI and climate mandates, making the program technology-neutral — so it would serve all technologies equally on an equal playing field. In the sparsely populated areas that BEAD supposedly serves, Satellite internet often makes the most sense.
When the Trump Administration announced the reforms, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clearly stated the goal was to “deliver high-speed internet access efficiently on a technology-neutral basis, and at the right price.”
It’s not surprising that a Sohn would want to undermine the Trump administration’s push to save taxpayer dollars, which she hoped would help subsidize left-wing companies that are now hiring her to lobby. However, it’s more surprising that she appears to be working with some Republican officials.
In Missouri’s latest BEAD proposal to the NTIA, the state asks for nearly $1 billion in federal subsidies. Despite the inefficiency of fiber, over 81 percent of the BEAD money went to these companies, while only 13 percent went to the more efficient Satellite. Under its proposal, satellite providers Starlink and Kuiper serve households at less than $1,500 per location, while some fiber providers, such as NEMR, ask for nearly $10,000 per location.
After this proposal, Sohn wrote, “I’ve had the honor of working with [Director of Missouri’s Office of Broadband Development] BJ Tanksley. He’s one of the best State Broadband Officers out there. Congratulations!”
Gigi Sohn is the last official that Republican state officials should be working with. Sohn is so far left that the Democratic Senate couldn’t confirm her as FCC Commissioner under the Biden Administration due to her long history of seeking to censor conservatives. As Breitbart reported at the time, Sohn had urged an investigation into conservative Broadcaster Sinclair News over allegations from leftists that “the company orders them to air biased political segments, and that it feeds interviewers questions intended to favor Republicans.”
Sohn also co-founded the left-wing advocacy group Public Knowledge, which pressured Cable networks to drop conservative Cable stations One America News and Newsmax.
In recent weeks, Sohn has had to pose as a free speech advocate when attacking Trump’s FCC Chair, Brendan Carr, whom she falsely told NPR was “using the bully pulpit to essentially intimidate a major network into canceling one of its hours — there’s nothing that comes close in the history of the Federal Communications Commission, ”
Sohn’s hypocritical vendetta against the Trump administration is just one reason why no Red State officials should be working with her to help her undermine Trump’s essential reforms.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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