The Affordable Connectivity Programme (ACP) was set up by Congress two years ago, and the Democrats have been begging for more money to keep it alive. But the Republicans have slammed the ACP last month, calling it a "waste of money".

In a letter, the Rep bigwigs moaned that most of the people getting the discount already had broadband before the scheme started. They threatened to cut off the funding and slammed what they called the "Biden administration's spending spree". We suspect they'd rather spend the money on tax breaks for the rich and paying for Donald Trump's legal bills.

The top Republicans namely Sen. John Thune, Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Rep. Bob Latta sent the letter.

With no solution in sight, the FCC said it would have to start telling people about the scheme's doom. "With less than four months before the scheme runs out of money and without any more funding, this week the FCC expects to start winding down the scheme to give people, providers, and other folks enough time to get ready," the FCC said in a statement yesterday.

The Biden administration has asked for $6 billion to fund the scheme until December 2024. Right now, the FCC said it "expects funding to last until April 2024, running out completely in May."

FCC boss Jessica Rosenworcel said that 23 million households are signed up for the discount scheme.

She warned that the ACP shutdown "would ruin the historic $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Programme," a different scheme set up by Congress to pay ISPs to expand broadband networks across the US.

The discount and deployment schemes work well together because "the ACP supports a steady customer base to help encourage deployment in rural areas," Rosenworcel wrote.