Federal grant termination notices piling up across Georgia

On May 9, a federal notice arrived at a state office that cut millions of dollars earmarked for a  bipartisan effort to get rural Georgians connected to high-speed Internet.

The U.S. Department of Commerce declared it was canceling a $22 million federal grant promised to Georgia in 2021 that had included the words “digital equity” and “digital inclusion.” Grants were meant for populations who historically have lower internet uptake including seniors, non-native English speakers, veterans, people who have disabilities, prisoners, rural residents, poor families and members of ethnic minorities.

In Georgia, the digital divide meant to be bridged by the grant is greatest in places like rural McIntosh County. About two-thirds of the residents of McIntosh are white and one third are Black, and the median household there earns about $50,000 per year, lagging Georgia’s overall median by $25,000.

The money would have helped Georgians who might lack a computer, lack confidence with it or lack any Internet connection at home. 

Since President Donald Trump took office this year, notices have arrived at state agencies directing them to stop spending millions of dollars of federal budget funds immediately, even for efforts that have the support of the state’s Republican leadership, The Current has learned in a two-month investigation. 

The cuts to Georgia state agencies are a small part of  about 27,000 federal spending cuts proclaimed by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. 

So far, official response to these spending freezes has been muted. Georgia has not joined states suing to oppose federal funding freezes and cuts in education, biomedical research, public health, electric vehicle infrastructure or other areas. Meanwhile, Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns said last week state lawmakers are waiting to see the contours of the budget being debated by the GOP-controlled U.S. Congress before deciding whether to organize a special legislative session to address the potentially smaller stream of federal dollars flowing toward the state budget that starts July 1.

Typically, Georgia’s state agencies pull together budget projections in the fall, and the governor presents a budget to lawmakers when the legislative season starts in January.  

Gov. Brian Kemp’s office did not respond to interview requests about how he will address the DOGE cuts.  Via email, spokesman Garrison Douglas wrote: “We continue to monitor cuts and proposed legislation and what their potential impacts will be. However, we are not engaging in speculation when the One Big Beautiful Bill and the FY 2026 budget is currently still undergoing review and may impact these cuts as well.” 

Among the options available to the state, say lawmakers, are filling the holes left by DOGE funding cuts through the state’s rainy day fund, backfilling through its own tax takings, or just doing without.

State Rep. Marvin Lim, D-Norcross, a member of the state House Appropriations Committee who is tracking federal cuts in Georgia, says there’s a chance the state might backfill some of the sudden grant terminations, especially in the area of public safety and responses to domestic violence and sexual assault.

He’s worried, however, about the lack of planning by the Republican leadership to mitigate hardships that federal spending cuts will have on Georgians. “We in the state need to do a better job at planning,” Lim said in early June at a state Capitol press conference. “Because at some point we will fill that gap, but we would do a much better job if we started figuring that out now.”

So far, it’s difficult to quantify the full amount of DOGE cuts in Georgia. The biggest single data source is DOGE.gov, but some of its data is wrong or overstated, some of its cuts are tied up in court and some grantees are appealing terminations.

Here’s some of the affected state agencies and grants confirmed by The Current.

1.  $22 million Digital Broadband Equity grants

In a social media post on May 8, Trump denounced efforts passed by Congress under the Biden administration to speed the development of broadband infrastructure and uptake across America. Trump called the Digital Equity Capacity Program a “racist and illegal $2.5 billion giveaway.” DOGE’s website claims grant cancellations of $803 million nationwide.

The next day, Georgia and other states got letters telling them to stop spending those approved funds. 

A portion of a letter sent May 9, 2025 by the U.S. Department of Commerce to Georgia and other states cancelling digital equity grants.

Georgia’s 466-page plan for the $22 million in federal program money outlined how those funds would address connectivity problems like lack of fiber or cell service across the state, but especially in rural Georgia. As well, funds were intended to upgrade digital literacy to protect Georgians from online scammers and increase availability for vital telehealth or use public safety services.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology did not respond to a request to elaborate on the reasoning behind the secretary’s decision. 

The agency behind Georgia’s report, the Georgia Technology Authority, confirmed that almost none of the $22 million had been spent when the grant was cancelled, and referred questions to Kemp’s office.

2. $18 million cut from Georgia Department of Labor

About 20,000 Georigans made new claims for unemployment payments in May 2025.  

But Georgia’s Department of Labor administers that vital money with a 43-year-old computer system. 

The agency is upgrading that system, but the termination of the remainder of an $18 million federal grant made in 2024 poses a “heightened risk” to the changeover, according to an internal memo.

Part of a May 2025 memo by the Georgia Department of Labor summarizing the impact of early termination of federal grants.

In 2023 and 2024, Georgia received four grants totaling $21 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.  The $11.25 million IT grant was the largest and it covered cloud hosting, software procurement, staff and other help for the upgrade.The remaining three grants covered for improvements in live chat, fraud detection, among other areas. 

The Georgia Department of Labor did not respond to requests for comment about the status of the money, or its response to the federal notice. It is unclear whether the agency can or will appeal the cancelations or replace the funds from another source .

3. Georgia Department of Public Health samples, labs and HIV/AIDS

In March, the Georgia Department of Public Health received notice that it was losing  $334 million in funding after budget cuts hit the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The money had been earmarked to bolster epidemiology work and preventive care services through the end of 2026. 

In an April memo to state budget-writers, DPH said that impact to “core” public health operations were minimal.

But the lost funding also paid for services like couriers to carry specimen samples between labs and offices without spoiling and a computer system that eliminated “slow and inaccurate” paper reports on disease surveillance. 

Part of an April 2025 memo by the Georgia Department of Public Health outlining some impacts of early federal fund cuts.

The department estimates that those services will cost $4.7 million  in the year that starts July 1 and anticipates going to the state to backfill funding. 

In its memo to the governor’s budget office, DPH  flagged an April Politico article describing the Trump administration’s proposal to slash public health spending on HIV/AIDS prevention, surveillance and care in next year’s budget — something that could impact millions in spending in Georgia.  Congress is currently debating that plan. The Trump administration has already yanked billions in domestic grants for HIV and AIDS testing, outreach and prevention.  

Since that April memo, the CDC has closed its Office of Smoking and Health, which provided approximately $2 million to Georgia per year. The state’s tobacco and vaping prevention and cessation programs are continuing uninterrupted, according to a DPH spokesperson. 

4.  Triage at Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

More than 30 state programs ranging from outpatient mental health treatment to semi-independent living centers lost some federal funding since the start of the year, according to an April email written by officials from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

Part of an April 2025 email from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities outlines programs affected by early termination of $10 million in federal grants.

The department, known by initials DBHDD, lost about $10 million via the early termination of federal grants that were set to end September 1. Agency spokesperson Kaleb McMitchen wrote in an email that agency used “existing state resources and other grant funds to backfill the funding to meet programmatic needs and obligations.”

That amount is less than 1% of the agency’s $1.6 billion state budget this year. But the agency also faces a worker shortage and the yearslong backlog of people who have disabilities and are waiting for funds they need for independent living.

5. EV money going nowhere

In 2021, Congress set aside nearly $5 billion in a bipartisan law to help states to set up alternative fuel networks and electric charging stations that make it safe and easy to drive electric vehicles across the country. 

Gov. Kemp, meanwhile, in 2023 pledged to make Georgia “the electric mobility capital of America.”  The state spent the first of its total $135 million in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure money in February 2024, which included a contract for a new EV station at Love’s Travel Stop in Brunswick.

But a year later, states got a letter telling them to hit pause on spending, as “new leadership” at the U.S. Department of Transportation reviewed the policy.  
Seventeen states sued to compel the federal government to send the money previously contracted, arguing that only Congress, not a secretary of transportation, could halt it. Georgia did not join the suit. A judge has ruled the Trump administration must restore the funding to 14 states.

A February 2025 letter by the U.S. Department of Transportation put millions of dollars on hold that Georgia was using to expand electric vehicle infrastructure.

The Georgia Department of Transportation did not respond to a request for comment about how much money has been obligated or spent so far.

The federal government has not so far published new guidance on spending.

Margaret Coker contributed reporting.

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