Under the guise of eliminating waste, Lifeline — the last remaining federal broadband subsidy in the US — is about to undergo some major changes that make it much harder to get than before.
In a 2-1 vote along party lines on Feb. 18, the Federal Control Commission’s Republican majority voted to consider rules that would tighten its vetting process for the Lifeline program, a phone and internet subsidy with a budget of $2.9 billion in 2025. Lifeline provides $9.25 a month to households making 135% or less than the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or $44,550 for a family of four.
Republicans have long argued that the program is rife with waste, but the evidence is thin. A report from the FCC’s Office of Inspector General, released in January, found that between 2020 and 2025, $5 million went to people who were deceased, and another $5.5 million was spent on duplicate enrollments.
“The government should not be spending the money of hardworking Americans to provide phone and Internet service to dead people,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement.
It’s tough to argue with Carr’s point on its face, but $10.5 million over five years is a rounding error in government spending terms. An analysis from the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society found that it amounted to just 0.1% of all Lifeline expenditures over the same period — hardly evidence of the “serious integrity issues” that Carr described. For comparison, the US government has spent more than $5 billion on the war in Iran as of March 3.
So why the sudden spotlight on a relatively meager subsidy that’s existed for 40 years? Lifeline’s being used as “political tool,” according to Anna Gomez, the lone dissenting Democrat on the FCC.
“This item proposes significant changes that will unnecessarily weaken the Lifeline program and undermine its ability to ensure affordable connectivity for consumers under the guise of preventing waste, fraud, and abuse,” Gomez said in her statement.
It’s widely understood that the reason most people don’t have an internet connection is because they can’t afford it. With Americans paying nearly $80 monthly for internet, $9.25 is already massively insufficient if the goal — as explicitly outlined in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — is to make internet accessible and affordable to everyone.
That access goes a long way. Having an internet connection improves health outcomes, increases employment rates and even boosts our psychological well-being. One study even found that for every dollar spent on the pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program, the nation’s GDP increased by $3.89.
Around 8.1 million Americans are currently enrolled in Lifeline — just 21% of the eligible population. In comparison, the Affordable Connectivity Program provided $30 a month to low-income internet subscribers, and had 23 million Americans enrolled before it expired in 2024.
Stricter requirements — primarily collecting the full Social Security numbers of everyone who applies — could deter even more low-income households from using Lifeline.
“I’m concerned about the chilling effects there,” Alisa Valentin, broadband policy director at the nonprofit Public Knowledge, told CNET. “We have seen the ways in which this administration is always playing up this politics of deservingness. We’ve seen this war on the poor. These proposals fit into that broader narrative.”
In addition to the stricter vetting process, the definition of who is eligible could also narrow. Lifeline currently uses a “one-per-household” threshold, which is defined as a group of people who live together and share money. The FCC is considering a change to “one-per-residence,” which means four roommates with separate bills would still only be able to get one Lifeline benefit in total.
Gomez denounced this “one-per-residence” proposal as “cruel and punitive” in her statement, saying it “reflects a lack of knowledge about the experience of being poor.”
According to the Pew Research Center, 54% of US adults making $30,000 or less per year have a home broadband subscription, compared to 94% for those making over $100,000.
While the Office of Inspector General report didn’t produce any findings on noncitizens illegally accessing Lifeline, the requirement to provide full SSNs is in line with other Trump administration policies designed to keep immigrants away from safety net programs.
“Carr has made it clear that he has an audience of one, and we know that audience of one is the President of the United States,” Valentin said. “We have seen with this administration the ways in which they are trying so hard to make immigrant communities seem like the villains.”
Other low-income internet options
Changes to the Lifeline program are almost certainly coming, but even without them, $9.25 per month still doesn’t close the affordability gap enough for many people. While there’s no single resource like the ACP available anymore, a number of states and internet providers have created their own low-income internet programs to help close the gap.
- State and local resources: Even before the ACP ended, many states had already provided patchwork solutions to address internet affordability. You can find more information on them in CNET’s low-income internet guide to all 50 states. Some cities also have their own internet subsidies. Chicago, for example, offers free internet to families in public schools and eligible city colleges through its Chicago Connected program. The best way to find these resources is to go to Google and search for “[location] internet resources.”
- Internet provider discounts: Almost all the big names in internet offer some sort of discount for low-income subscribers, and they often have similar eligibility requirements as the ACP and Lifeline. Spectrum and Xfinity, for example, both offer plans starting at $15 per month for customers who qualify for programs like the National School Lunch Program, Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
- Digital equity nonprofits: There are a number of nonprofits around the country working to close the digital divide by helping people pay their monthly internet bills, access devices that connect to the internet or rent a mobile hotspot. You can find a list of reputable organizations on CNET’s ACP alternatives page.
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