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By Owen Klinsky, DCNF. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at a bill signing ceremony at the White House, March 3, 2022. (Screen Capture/CSPAN)

President Joe Biden’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) earmarked tens of billions of taxpayer dollars for expanding broadband internet, yet, more than three years later, not a single project is underway.

The $1.2 trillion law earmarked over $42 billion to provide internet access in unserved, mostly rural areas, with Biden once describing the initiative as “not unlike what Roosevelt did with electricity.” However, not a single project funded by the initiative has broken ground, with federal subsidies not expected to reach projects until 2025, largely due to a slew of regulatory hurdles, such as requirements for internet providers to participate in green initiatives and employ unionized workforces.

“In 2021, Kamala Harris became the ‘Broadband Czar’,” Republican South Dakota Sen. John Thune wrote in a post on X on Sep. 24. “Three years and $42 billion later, not one person has been connected to the internet under the BEAD [Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment] program.”

Another challenge comes from applicants having to demonstrate how the internet plans they provide using the federally subsidized infrastructure will be affordable for Americans with household incomes at or below 200% of the poverty line. Virginia’s application process, for example, took more than 10 months due to a dispute between the state and federal government over a price cap for low-cost plans.

The White House’s pace of implementation has drawn scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee launching an investigation into the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s handling of the initiative. The broadband expansion program has also drawn comparisons to the Biden-Harris administration’s electric vehicle (EV) charger expansion initiative, that, as of April 2024, had built just seven stations despite the $7.5 billion the November 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated it.

The EV charger expansion program was delayed in part due to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requirements, with the Department of Transportation saying applicants should promise to engage in “intentional outreach to underserved communities” by hosting “neighborhood block parties.”

“The Biden Admin has been layering a partisan political agenda on top of this $42.45B program — a liberal wish list that has nothing to do with connecting Americans,” Brendan Carr, the former head of the Federal Communications Commission wrote in a June X post. “Climate change mandates, tech biases, DEI requirements, favoring government-run networks + more.”

Biden-Harris Admin Opened Door For 1.7 Million Migrants Flagged As ‘Potential’ Security Threats, House Report Finds

Over 1.7 million migrants who have been encountered along the southern border during the Biden-Harris administration have been flagged as “potential national security threats,” according to a House Judiciary Committee report released Thursday.

The migrants, who largely entered the country under Vice President Kamala Harris’ leadership as “border czar,” have been designated as “special interest aliens” (SIAs) due to having come from countries “considered to be a threat” to American national security, according to the report. Since January 2021, nearly eight million migrants have entered the country illegally along the southern border, with at least 382 of them found to be on the U.S. government’s terrorist watchlist.

The report pointed to the case of Mohammad Kharwin, who was initially put on the terrorist watchlist in 2018, later had his name misspelled when the records were updated in 2019. Because of this discrepancy, Border Patrol agents released Kharwin into the U.S., despite his “possible terrorism ties.”

There are currently 26 “special interest” countries, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Syria and Turkey, according to the report. The Department of Homeland Security recently added 12 more countries to the list, including China, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

“Kamala Harris has failed disastrously as the Border Czar,” Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Arizona said in a Thursday post on X. “FBI Director Chris Wray has warned Congress of the dangers of the Biden-Harris regime’s open borders. We have no way of knowing how many terrorists have invaded our country under the Border Czar’s watch.”

The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The surprising reports come from whistleblower disclosures that point to a non-classified Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—under the title “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync”—containing sensitive information about Governor Walz and his alleged connections to the CCP. Further intelligence reports, both classified and unclassified, are said to contain additional details on these troubling claims.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Committee expressed its concerns about the long-term relationship between Governor Walz and the CCP, suggesting the Chinese regime has attempted to infiltrate subnational leadership in the U.S. through strategic relationships with prominent figures, including state governors. The letter indicates that the Committee has been investigating CCP influence on federal and state leadership for some time, but this new information regarding Governor Walz raises the stakes considerably.

BREAKING: Chairman Comer Is Subpoenaing DHS After Whistleblower Reveals Information on Governor Walz’s Ties to the CCP

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 30, 2024

In the letter to Secretary Mayorkas, the Committee stated, “If a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare.”

The Committee argued that the CCP views the United States as its “main enemy” and has been engaged in a broad campaign to influence American policymakers, particularly at the state and local levels. The whistleblower disclosures, according to Chairman Comer, indicate that Walz may have been part of this effort, either knowingly or unwittingly. Comer issued a subpoena to DHS, demanding the release of all intelligence reports, documents, and communications related to Governor Walz’s alleged connections to the CCP. The Oversight Committee believes these documents will shed light on how successful the CCP has been in infiltrating U.S. political circles and what the federal government is doing to combat these efforts.

“We have learned of the emphasis the CCP has placed on influencing subnational government leaders, including state governors,” said the Committee in its letter. “The information required of DHS by the Committee’s subpoena will inform the Committee’s understanding of how successful the CCP has been in waging political warfare in and against the United States, how effectively federal agencies are addressing the communist regime’s campaign, and what reforms are necessary to counter this threat.”

While it’s still unclear how this investigation will play out, the political implications are enormous. Governor Walz has not yet commented publicly on the matter, but his potential connection to the CCP is likely to become a major talking point in the coming weeks as the 2024 election cycle heats up. If the allegations hold water, it could not only derail his political ambitions but also shake public confidence in the Democratic Party’s ability to fend off foreign influence.