But the Lifeline vote was the more heavily scrutinized agenda item. Today, one in five people do not have access to broadband at home, and the vast majority of those disconnected are poor. Only about 40 percent of people earning less than $25,000 a year can afford broadband while 95 percent of all households making over $150,000 have high-speed Internet at home, the F.C.C. said.

Starting in December, those eligible for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and tribal and veterans benefits, will be able to apply for the subsidy. The funds can be used for wireless or fixed-wire broadband. The F.C.C. said it would aim to keep the budget of the subsidy program under $2.25 billion, money that is provided through line-item charges on wireless and Internet bills.

Among the biggest concerns is how financially disadvantaged families are being strained by their inability to connect to the Internet at home. Seven out of 10 schools assign homework that requires Internet access, for example. Most jobs are posted online, and applications for employment are increasingly becoming online-only.

“This meets the 21st-century needs for those most vulnerable,” said Mignon Clyburn, a Democratic commissioner.

The vote over the Lifeline plan was delayed for three hours because of back-and-forth between the two Republican commissioners and the three Democratic commissioners over the program’s details. The Republican commissioners, who ultimately voted against the subsidy, said the F.C.C. needed to put a lower and hard cap on the Lifeline program’s budget. Started in 1985 to bring phone services to low-income families, Lifeline later added subsidies for mobile phone services, but some homes started double-billing the program and the budget for the fund ballooned.