Kristian Stout Quoted in Communications Daily on GAO Review of BEAD Changes
Kristian Stout, ICLE Director of Innovation Policy, was quoted in a Communications Daily article examining the GAO’s finding that the Commerce Department’s June 2025 BEAD program revisions qualify as a ‘rule’ under the Congressional Review Act. The NTIA’s bypass of congressional oversight creates legal uncertainty for the program even if the immediate practical effects are yet to be determined. Read the full article here.
GAO seems to offer “a plausible reading” of the CRA, but the practical effect is less clear, said Kristian Stout, innovation policy director at the International Center for Law & Economics. It’s an opinion letter from GAO, “which means we would either need litigation or some new act of Congress, or at least a hearing, to see actual impediments to NTIA pursuing its policy.”