An obscure welfare program that provides free cell phones to low-income Americans came to national prominence when a video went viral of an Ohio woman exclaiming that she “got an Obamaphone,” and the spotlight has brought with it increased congressional oversight.

“I write to express serious concerns about the Lifeline program, a part of the Universal Service Fund (USF) that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, outlayed more than $9.3 billion in FY2012,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, wrote in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairman, Mignon Clyburn.

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