By Eliza Krigman, National Journal

The Media Access Project, a public-interest law firm, is urging Congress not to trim $602 million from a $7.2 billion pot of stimulus dollars dedicated to expanding broadband deployment and adoption nationwide.

The money, which represents nearly a tenth of the total broadband fund, came into jeopardy with the House’s passage of a military supplemental bill last night. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey introduced an amendment to the bill that rescinds $602 million from the broadband program to help offset the $75 billion supplemental.

Obey also diverted additional funds from other sources — and has received a lot of pushback, most notably from the White House. In a statement of administration policy, the president threatened to veto the legislation if certain cuts, unrelated to broadband, remained in the final bill. Now it is up to the Senate, which returns from recess July 12, to move the supplemental out of Congress.

“The $602 million to be reallocated represents a negligible portion of U.S. war spending,” Andrew Schwartzman, senior vice president and policy director of Media Access Project, said in a statement. “But these funds would cover the cost of a large number of broadband infrastructure and adoption projects spanning multiple states, to benefit thousands of people living and working without adequate access to the Internet.”