strong supporters of Pai's deregulatory policies.

Budget limits hinder deployment

Pai says he is planning changes that will fix the budget shortfall, but it's not clear why his FCC hasn't done the economic analysis Thune referred to. As chairman, Pai has promised to "strengthen the role of economics at the FCC."

The cuts Thune complained about have affected the USF's multi-billion-dollar High Cost program, also known as the Connect America Fund, which gives money to carriers to deploy broadband in areas without it. The FCC instituted a new budget control mechanism in 2016 under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler. The mechanism is apparently having unwelcome effects that Thune says Pai has not stopped.

The program budget "has remained static at 2011 levels," and "the current budget limits are hindering rural broadband deployment and harmingeffect of the budget control mechanism for the current funding year adopted by the prior Commission," Pai said at the time.

The problem could be fixed for good within months. Pai's spokesperson told Multichannel News that later this year, he plans to establish a "sufficient and predictable budget so that those in rural communities are not left behind any longer."

Separately, Pai has repeatedly imposed new limits on Lifeline, another Universal Service Fund program that gives telecom subsidies to poor people. The Universal Service Fund is paid for by US residents through surcharges on phone bills.

Thune's criticism of the FCC was not limited to the Universal Service Fund. He also took aim at the FCC's broadband mapping data, which is widely known to be inaccurate.

"Our current maps are insufficient," Thune