Chairman Pai's Response to Members of Congress Regarding Lifeline Program's National Eligibility Verifier

On March 28, 2019, Reps Yvette Clark (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), GK Butterfield (D-NC), Marc Veasey (D-TX), and Jerry McNerney (D-CA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai raising concerns as to the rollout of the Lifeline National Eligibility Verifier. On May 13, Chairman Pai responded, saying that the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) have "made significant progress in rolling out the National Verifier and are working diligently to meet the December 2019 deployment timeframe." Chairman Pai also outlined how the National Verifier is connecting with different databases, such as Federal Public Housing Assistance database, and how USAC and the FCC are in the process of establishing an automated connection with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.