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NTIA broadband oversight · House E&C · June 30, 2026

The hearing,by the numbers.

The Assistant Secretary answered questions from both parties on NTIA activity for four hours. This walks through what she said, variance in answers, and a breakdown of topics. Scroll through, or click to explore.

A data walk-through of Administrator Arielle Roth's testimony ·
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Answer length

How long were her answers?

On average, an answer to a Republican member ran about twice as long as an answer to a Democratic member. The dial shows average words per answer; use the toggle to switch parties.

Specific figures

How often did she give specific figures?

Answers were also coded for whether they contained a specific figure: a dollar amount, a date, or a numeric commitment. Each mark below represents one such figure per answer, averaged across all answers to each party. Republicans received specific figures about five times as often.

One topic, multiple truths

The same topic, answered disparately.

On several topics, the Administrator's own statements do not sit easily together. Select a topic to place sample responses side by side. The member she was answered is noted above each statement.

What each side asked about

The two parties raised different topics.

Each bar shows how one party's questions divided across topics. Colors are fixed to topics and stay constant across both views. Republicans devoted the largest share to spectrum, which Democrats did not raise; Democratic questions concentrated on legality, affordability, and delays. Use the toggle to switch parties.

Where the two sides align

Two priorities both parties shared.

Amid the differences, two topics drew nearly equal attention from both parties. On each, the gap between Republican and Democratic questions was about one percentage point.

Rural deployment
R
13.7%
D
12.7%
Fiber vs. satellite
R
11.8%
D
12.7%

Getting broadband to rural areas, and the choice between fiber and satellite to do it, registered as common ground across the aisle.

The full record

Every statement, in order.

Each substantive statement the Administrator made appears below in sequence, from the start of the hearing at the top to the end at the bottom. Color indicates the party of the member she was answering: red for Republican, blue for Democratic. Statements marked with a dot are linked to other statements they do not align with. Selecting a statement opens its quote and its links.

Reading each row

Each row shows a number, a letter, and a short summary. The letter marks the statement type:
A assertion (a claim about what is the case)   D denial (states something is not the case)   P promise (a commitment to act)

Best viewed on a desktop or laptop. On a phone, the connecting lines are harder to see.

direct contradiction same point, framed differently stated one way, then another

select any row marked with a dot

Her answers by theme

Three terms, many answers.

Three terms recurred throughout the hearing: savings, the law, and performance. Her answers on each varied across the exchanges. Select a term to read a set of her statements on that theme, ordered as they occurred. Color marks the party of the member she was answering.

Commitments on the record

What she committed to deliver.

The hearing also produced specific commitments, each with a subject and, in most cases, a date.

  • BEAD non-deployment guidance: stated for "this summer," to two members
  • 7 GHz spectrum band: to be identified by the end of 2026
  • 500 MHz mandate: stated as on track to beat the statutory deadline
  • Ohio groundbreaking: stated for 2026, scaling into 2027
  • New Jersey and Louisiana allocations: full amounts, "according to the law"

This is the short, playable version of a longer written report. Full statistics, the complete 25-statement ledger, and per-member breakdowns are available upon request. Send a message on LinkedIn for the full report.