FAA bill faces Sen­ate holdup over expir­ing afford­able inter­net pro­gram

EXCLUSIVE — At least two sen­a­tors are demand­ing that a pro­gram sub­si­diz­ing high-speed inter­net for low­er-income fam­i­lies be extend­ed as part of the air­line safe­ty bill mak­ing its way through the Sen­ate.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R‑OH) plans to keep the upper cham­ber from fast-track­ing the bill, a five-year reau­tho­riza­tion of the Fed­er­al Avi­a­tion Admin­is­tra­tion, unless his amend­ment on the sub­sidy, known as the Afford­able Con­nec­tiv­i­ty Pro­gram, gets a vote on the Sen­ate floor. Sen. Peter Welch (D‑VT), anoth­er lead co-spon­sor, is also press­ing lead­er­ship for a fund­ing exten­sion.
The pro­gram, which expires this month, enjoys bipar­ti­san sup­port, in part because it affects vot­ers in rur­al states and dis­tricts. But it has faced oppo­si­tion from Repub­li­cans includ­ing Sen. Ted Cruz (R‑TX), the rank­ing mem­ber on the Sen­ate Com­merce Com­mit­tee, who say it has been sub­ject to fraud …