Nonprofit files lawsuit to reinstate digital equity grants

A nonprofit that was in line to receive digital equity grant funding filed a lawsuit last week to get their money back, months after President Donald Trump pulled the funding.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance sued the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over its decision to repeal the Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Program, one of three grant programs funded by the Digital Equity Act. The administration pulled grant funding from the legislation in May.

In its complaint, the Ohio-based NDIA said the decision to end $2.75 billion in grant funding after it had been appropriated under law is unconstitutional and violates the Constitution’s separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. NDIA urged the courts to reinstate the funding and allow it to resume projects in 11 states that it said would provide to 30,000 people through its new Digital Navigator + program.

“NDIA is taking the extraordinary step of suing the federal government for the 30,000 people who were counting on our Digital Navigator + program to help guide them through submitting job applications, accessing telehealth, attending classes, and staying safe online,” Angela Siefer, NDIA’s executive director, said in a statement. “Thousands more across the country stood to benefit from Digital Equity Act grants through other trusted community organizations. Let’s be very clear, the Digital Equity Act is not unconstitutional nor racist, it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support to ensure the United States can compete in today’s modern economy.”

NDIA said its new program would go “beyond internet adoption,” and would instead focus on boosting people’s digital skills to address needs in health, education, workforce development, technology access and social and civic engagement. NDIA’s program would have initially rolled out in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington, but it would have been made publicly available for everyone.

The organization was awarded $25.7 million in grant funds in January and had expected to kick off its efforts in March, according to a copy of the lawsuit. But what followed was a “sea change,” according to the suit, as Trump issued two executive orders in the early days of his administration to “terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.”

Those orders came just days after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration started pushing grant money out the door in the waning days of former President Joe Biden’s administration. Before then, states had identified many creative ways to improve residents’ digital skills, address affordability and make the internet more accessible. But Trump took office and pledged to end the program, describing it as “unconstitutional” and calling for an end to “woke handouts based on race.”

NDIA said in its lawsuit it received a notice of its grant termination the day after Trump’s statement on his Truth Social platform. The group said it received a letter that “espouses a final, unappealable determination, without any supporting facts, reasoning, or analysis, that all Competitive Grant Program awards ‘were created with, and administered using, impermissible and unconstitutional racial preferences.’”

The lawsuit says Trump — who is named as a defendant alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth, acting National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Craig Burkhardt, and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought — defied Congress’ clear will “by eliminating an entire statutory scheme based on a policy set forth” in his executive orders. This “violates the separation of powers, infringes Congress’s spending power under Article I, usurps the power delegated to the Courts under Article III, and far exceeds the constitutional authority of the Executive Branch,” the filing continues.

Other groups have expressed their support for NDIA’s lawsuit. Drew Garner, director of policy engagement at the nonprofit Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, said in a statement the digital equity grants and the legislation enabled by them “invests in the human infrastructure of broadband and helps people access affordable internet and devices and develop the skills necessary to use modern connectivity.”

“We all benefit when we are all connected — when workers connect with employers, patients connect with doctors, students connect with teachers, and small businesses connect with customers,” Revati Prasad, Benton’s executive director, said in a statement. “That’s what Congress designed the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program to deliver — connectivity and opportunity for all. NDIA’s action today is an unfortunately necessary step to restoring Congress’s intention.”