May 16, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: On May 9, Donald Trump’s crackerjack team decided that funds allocated by Congress in 2021 as part of a bipartisan bill to bring broadband internet access to rural areas of America—including Virginia’s Sixth District—would not be spent. Why? On May 8 Trump announced on Truth Social he would end the program because it is “racist” and “unconstitutional.” That truly moronic reaction was triggered because the relevant portion of the larger “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” was titled the “Digital Equity Program.”
Had Trump or anyone in his administration read the details of the program he would have realized that the program benefited a majority of largely poor, rural, white citizens and veterans. They might have found that the sundry agencies charged with implementing the program were engaged in job training that was producing a 15 to one payback for money spent in terms of a reduction of government service costs, new taxes paid, etc. But nope, the program had the word “equity” in it so, in a classic demonstration of trumpery, he judged the program as “unconstitutional.”
What is unconstitutional is, once again, Trump’s violation of the Constitution by simply deauthorizing funds Congress lawfully allocated. One would hope that Rep. Ben “Craven” Cline would have something to say about all of this. Cline has, alas, conveniently forgotten that the Constitution he swore to uphold has Congress controlling spending, not the Executive branch. Never mind that Trump’s hamhanded decision denies vital support, education, and financial opportunities for his own constituents. When asked for comment, however, his constituents so far have heard, predictably … crickets. Color me not surprised. WALTER BOUZARD Rockbridge County
