A federal judge has blocked the White House’s complete shutdown of a multibillion-dollar internet access initiative, ruling that while the program’s race-based funding guidelines are unconstitutional, the rest of the initiative must be preserved.
In a memorandum opinion issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates addressed a lawsuit brought by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) against President Donald Trump and federal agencies. The nonprofit sued following the administration’s decision to completely eliminate the Digital Equity Act’s Competitive Grant Program.
The $2.75 billion program, enacted as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was designed to expand broadband access and digital literacy across the United States. In January 2025, the NTIA and NIST awarded the NDIA a five-year, $25 million grant to expand its “Digital Navigator” training program.
However, the funding was halted after the administration issued executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. On May 8, 2025, the administration announced it was immediately ending the program, arguing the statute unconstitutionally required the allocation of federal funds on the basis of race.
The administration pointed to the law’s definition of “covered populations,” which explicitly highlighted “members of a racial or ethnic minority group” alongside seven other categories, including rural residents, low-income households, veterans, and aging individuals.
Judge Bates agreed with the government’s constitutional assessment, writing that the provision constitutes an explicit racial classification that fails strict scrutiny under recent Supreme Court precedent.
“The offending provision is neither justified by a compelling governmental interest nor narrowly tailored to meet a permissible goal,” Bates wrote, noting that the Supreme Court has ruled that ameliorating general societal inequalities does not justify race-based state action.
However, the court rejected the administration’s decision to terminate the entire initiative. Judge Bates ruled that the unconstitutional race provision is fully severable from the rest of the law, meaning the broader program can still function legally.
“The Act requires consideration of covered population status generally and does not mandate that money go to any particular subgroup,” Bates wrote. “That means that the Competitive Grant Program can be administered—consistent with the language of the Digital Equity Act—exactly as it was before, minus consideration of racial or ethnic status.”
According to the opinion, the Department of Justice previously committed to restoring the Competitive Grant Program if the court found the race criterion unconstitutional but severable.
The court dismissed a separate claim by the NDIA challenging an agency policy that barred reimbursements for DEI-related conferences and training, ruling that the issue is not yet ripe for judicial review since the program must now be restructured.
With the dismissal denied, the NDIA’s core lawsuit remains active as the federal government prepares to restart the grant application process under the revised criteria.
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