Joe Biden tapped Kamala Harris to serve as the rural broadband czar in 2021.
Part of her task was overseeing the implementation of a $42 billion program to connect Americans in rural and remote parts of the country to the Internet.
According to Federal Communications Commission member Brendan Carr after almost 1,000 days, not a single person has actually been connected to the web.
"Hundreds of broadband infrastructure builders are now sounding the alarm, writing that the $42 billion plan to expand Internet has been wired to fail," FCC Commissioner Carr wrote in a post on X. He added: "President Biden put VP Harris in charge of this effort back in 2021 and 982 days later not [one] person has been connected." Newsletter Need to Know.
The National Pulse reported on the rural broadband program's looming failure in June, noting that no project receiving funds from the $42 billion plan will break ground before 2025.
Internet service providers and lawmakers on Capitol Hill contend the Biden-Harris government's burdensome regulations-including climate change mandates, union worker requirements, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies-have brought progress on expanding rural Internet access to a halt.
Commissioner Carr has warned that the Biden-Harris government estimates claiming the program is on track to break ground in 2025 and see substantial progress by 2026 are overly optimistic.
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