GAO report flags BEAD program as vulnerable to fraud due to decentralized funding structure

On July 23, 2026, the GAO released a report titled 'Combating Fraud: Managing Risks in Federally Funded, State-Administered Programs' that included BEAD among 20 major federally funded, state-administered programs reviewed for fraud risk. The report found that BEAD's decentralized structure, where funds flow from NTIA to states and then to ISP subgrantees, creates multiple entry points for fraud, though GAO noted no adjudicated fraud cases have been tied directly to BEAD and the program is too new for its audit data to be fully indicative of program integrity.