Senator Rosen presses nominee on frozen BEAD award for Nevada; DeBarr declines immediate commitment
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Summary
Sen. Jacky Rosen asked Paul DeBarr to commit to releasing $417 million in BEAD funds for Nevada that she said had been fully approved; DeBarr declined to commit immediately and said he needed to review details.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D‑Nev.) asked Paul DeBarr to commit during his confirmation hearing to releasing federal BEAD broadband funds she said had been approved for Nevada.
Rosen said Nevada’s BEAD proposal ‘‘was approved over three months ago’’ and that the Department of Commerce had not released the $417,000,000 allocated to connect unserved Nevadans. She told the committee the proposal is ‘‘tech neutral, cost effective’’ and meets program goals to reach 100 percent of unserved locations in the state.
DeBarr did not provide the requested yes‑or‑no commitment. He replied that he ‘‘will commit to certainly look at improving what’s been going on’’ and said he was not familiar with the specific Nevada award details at that moment. Rosen interjected that the award ‘‘has been fully approved’’ and pressed whether DeBarr would unfreeze money that has already been approved; DeBarr reiterated he needed to review the program specifics if confirmed.
Why it matters: BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) funds are intended to subsidize broadband deployment to unserved locations. Delays or freezes in disbursement can postpone network construction and delay service to rural and frontier communities.
DeBarr said broadly that he is ‘‘very passionate’’ about broadband deployment and would look into the process if confirmed; Rosen said she would treat the issue as urgent and expects prompt action.