FCC proposes restricting Lifeline phone subsidies to citizens only

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced on February 18, 2026, that the Commission had adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to reform the Lifeline program — which subsidizes phone and internet service for low-income households — by codifying it as a federal public benefit available only to citizens and those meeting 1996 welfare reform eligibility requirements. The FCC also proposed using the SAVE immigration verification system to enforce a five-year waiting period and screen out immigrants currently enrolled.