This is exactly why the government needs to be DOGE’d.
During a recent interview with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, Daily Show host Jon Stewart was stunned to learn how inefficiently the Biden administration’s $40 billion rural broadband program has been implemented.
Three years after President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, not a single project had launched. Klein walked an increasingly exasperated Stewart through the 14-step process states must complete to access the funding.
“Step 12: States must run a competitive sub-granting process,” Klein said about four and a half minutes into the now-viral video.
“Oh my f–king God,” Stewart exclaimed. “That’s step 12… after all this has been done?”
“Yeah, none of that could have happened earlier,” Klein replied. “We’ve now lost 17 more applicants. So, 30 of 56 have completed step 12.”
Klein explained that after step 12, states must submit proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which then reviews and approves them. Only three jurisdictions have made it to step 13.
“I’m speechless, Ezra,” Stewart said. “Honestly, it’s far worse than I could have imagined. But the fact that they amputated their own legs on this is what’s so stunning.”
Watch the clip below:
