Trump killed the Digital Equity Act, but US was forced to bring part of it back
Trump killed the Digital Equity Act, but US was forced to bring part of it back
特朗普废除了《数字公平法案》，但美国政府被迫恢复了其中部分内容
The Trump administration said it will reinstate a broadband grant program to comply with a court ruling that prevented it from fully ignoring the Digital Equity Act enacted by Congress in 2021. The US government said in a court filing that it plans to start taking applications for grants in December. 特朗普政府表示，将恢复一项宽带拨款计划，以遵守法院的一项裁决。该裁决阻止了政府完全无视国会于2021年颁布的《数字公平法案》（Digital Equity Act）。美国政府在一份法庭文件中表示，计划于12月开始接受拨款申请。
However, the Trump administration won a partial victory because the judge ruled the government can’t allocate money based on the race or ethnicity of people who would benefit from grants. The government program can still award broadband grants based on factors such as income, age, and disability. 然而，特朗普政府赢得了一场局部胜利，因为法官裁定，政府不得根据受益人的种族或族裔来分配资金。该政府项目仍可根据收入、年龄和残疾状况等因素发放宽带拨款。
The Digital Equity Act of 2021 provided $2.75 billion for three grant programs aimed at closing gaps in broadband access. The Biden administration started awarding $60 million in planning grants to states in 2022, and in 2024 it started taking applications to distribute the rest of the $2.75 billion. 2021年的《数字公平法案》提供了27.5亿美元，用于三个旨在缩小宽带接入差距的拨款项目。拜登政府于2022年开始向各州发放6000万美元的规划拨款，并于2024年开始接受申请，以分配剩余的27.5亿美元资金。
Trump announced in May 2025 that he would end the grant programs, claiming the Digital Equity Act itself is racist and unconstitutional. Trump and federal government officials were sued in US District Court for the District of Columbia by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), an advocacy group that was in line to obtain $25.7 million in grant money before the Trump administration ended the program. 特朗普于2025年5月宣布将终止这些拨款项目，声称《数字公平法案》本身具有种族歧视且违宪。特朗普和联邦政府官员随后在美国哥伦比亚特区地方法院被“国家数字包容联盟”（NDIA）起诉。该倡导组织在特朗普政府终止该项目前，本有望获得2570万美元的拨款。
The NDIA lawsuit is specifically about the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, which accounts for $1.25 billion of the total authorized by the Digital Equity Act. A separate grant program for states and territories accounted for the other $1.44 billion, but there’s no indication that it will be restarted. It doesn’t appear that anyone sued the Trump administration over the discontinued state grants. NDIA的诉讼专门针对“数字公平竞争拨款计划”，该计划占《数字公平法案》授权总额的12.5亿美元。另一个针对各州和领地的独立拨款项目占剩余的14.4亿美元，但目前没有迹象表明该项目会重启。似乎没有人因州级拨款被取消而起诉特朗普政府。
“Massive win,” but also a loss
“巨大的胜利”，但也是一种损失
The NDIA called the revival of the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program “a massive win for the communities we serve,” though it would have to submit a new application for funding because the Trump administration is starting the process from scratch. In January 2025, the Biden administration selected the NDIA for a $25.7 million grant to provide low- and no-cost devices and assist people in accessing low-cost broadband. The Trump administration later terminated the grant, the NDIA lawsuit said. NDIA称恢复“数字公平竞争拨款计划”是“我们所服务社区的巨大胜利”，尽管他们必须重新提交资金申请，因为特朗普政府正在从零开始整个流程。2025年1月，拜登政府选中NDIA并授予其2570万美元的拨款，用于提供低成本或免费设备，并协助人们接入低成本宽带。NDIA的诉讼称，特朗普政府随后终止了这笔拨款。
The Trump administration confirmed in a joint status report yesterday that it will reinstate the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, but without the provision that uses race and ethnicity as criteria for awarding funds. The status report did not mention restoring the $1.44 billion program for states, which was not part of the lawsuit filed by the NDIA. 特朗普政府在昨日的一份联合状态报告中确认，将恢复“数字公平竞争拨款计划”，但会剔除以种族和族裔作为资金分配标准的条款。该状态报告未提及恢复针对各州的14.4亿美元项目，该项目也不在NDIA提起的诉讼范围内。
“The Digital Equity Act is the first major federal investment to acknowledge that true connectivity requires more than just laying fiber-optic cables,” the NDIA said. “It takes digital navigators, affordable devices, and localized digital skills training to ensure that historically underserved communities can fully participate in our modern economy. The Competitive Grant Program is designed to directly fund these community-level solutions.” “《数字公平法案》是首个承认真正的互联互通不仅仅是铺设光缆的重大联邦投资，”NDIA表示。“这需要数字导航员、经济实惠的设备以及本地化的数字技能培训，以确保历史上服务不足的社区能够充分参与我们的现代经济。竞争性拨款计划旨在直接资助这些社区层面的解决方案。”
The NDIA is, of course, not happy about the judge’s decision that grants cannot be targeted to racial and ethnic minorities. “Regrettably, however, the court’s ruling also severed the inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities as a specific covered population in the program on the grounds that it is unconstitutional,” the NDIA said. “NDIA maintains unequivocally that the Digital Equity Act is constitutional in its entirety, and that the administration’s aggressive actions to dismantle it are unjust.” 当然，NDIA对法官关于拨款不能针对种族和少数族裔的裁决感到不满。“然而令人遗憾的是，法院的裁决还以违宪为由，切断了将种族和少数族裔作为该计划特定覆盖人群的资格，”NDIA表示。“NDIA明确坚持认为《数字公平法案》在整体上是合宪的，政府拆除该法案的激进行动是不公正的。”
Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled last month that “the Digital Equity Act straightforwardly categorizes members of certain races as ‘covered’ by the Act and targets grant money to programs that benefit those groups. That is an explicit racial classification, which can only be upheld if it withstands strict scrutiny. Here, it does not: the offending provision is neither justified by a compelling governmental interest nor narrowly tailored to meet a permissible goal. Accordingly, it is unconstitutional.” 乔治·W·布什任命的法官约翰·贝茨（John Bates）上个月裁定：“《数字公平法案》直接将某些种族的成员归类为法案的‘覆盖对象’，并将拨款目标锁定在惠及这些群体的项目上。这是一种明确的种族分类，只有在经受住严格审查的情况下才能维持。但在本案中，它未能通过：该违规条款既没有被重大的政府利益所证明，也没有为实现合法目标而进行狭义的调整。因此，它是违宪的。”
Trump killed whole program over “singular” provision
特朗普因“单一”条款废除了整个项目
Bates did not overturn the whole law, saying “the offending provision is severable from the rest of the statute” and that “the government’s only objection to the Digital Equity Act is this singular unconstitutional provision.” Although Trump had ordered an end to the whole program, the government told the court in June that it would be willing to “administer the Competitive Grant Program applying the statute’s race-neutral criteria.” 贝茨并没有推翻整部法律，他表示“违规条款可以从法案的其余部分中剥离出来”，并且“政府对《数字公平法案》唯一的反对意见就是这一项违宪条款”。尽管特朗普曾下令终止整个项目，但政府在6月份告诉法院，愿意“在应用法案中立于种族的标准下管理竞争性拨款计划”。
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is now preparing a new Notice of Funding Opportunity for the competitive grant program and intends to start accepting applications in December, the joint status report said. The NDIA could object to the government’s proposed timeline, but is still evaluating it and asked the court for another two weeks to determine whether the sides can reach an “agreement on the path forward and proposed schedule.” 联合状态报告称，国家电信和信息管理局（NTIA）目前正在为竞争性拨款计划准备一份新的“资金机会通知”，并打算在12月开始接受申请。NDIA可能会对政府提出的时间表提出异议，但目前仍在评估中，并已请求法院再给予两周时间，以确定双方能否就“前进方向和拟议时间表达成一致”。
The Digital Equity Act directed the US to establish a Competitive Grant Program to “spur greater adoption of broadband among covered populations.” The law defined eight types of covered populations, including “individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group.” The racial and ethnic minority category will be eliminated from the program as a result of the judge’s ruling, but the other categories remain. This includes people in low-income households, people who are 60 or older, incarcerated people except those in federal correctional facilities, veterans, people with disabilities, people with language barriers, and people living in rural areas. 《数字公平法案》指示美国建立一个竞争性拨款计划，以“促进覆盖人群更广泛地采用宽带”。该法律定义了八类覆盖人群，包括“属于种族或少数族裔群体的个人”。由于法官的裁决，种族和少数族裔类别将从该计划中剔除，但其他类别保持不变。这包括低收入家庭成员、60岁及以上的老年人、除联邦惩教设施外的被监禁人员、退伍军人、残疾人、有语言障碍的人以及居住在农村地区的人。
NDIA waits for details before seeking new grant NDIA Executive Director Angela Siefer said it is too early to determine whether her group will NDIA在寻求新拨款前等待细节。NDIA执行董事安吉拉·塞弗（Angela Siefer）表示，现在判断她的组织是否会……（原文截断）