Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has directed her staff to work overtime to spend as much of the $53 billion in semiconductor funding as possible — before President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office.
The Biden administration order to spend as much money as possible has drawn huge criticism from Republican lawmakers.
“I’d like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave,” Raimondo told POLITICO regarding the CHIPS Act funding. She confirmed setting a “clear deadline” and requesting weekend work from staff.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-I.A, chair of the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, condemned the accelerated spending in a Wednesday letter, citing concerns about oversight and fiscal responsibility.
“Shoveling out heaps of taxpayer dollars as fast as possible, with little to no oversight, is part of the reason the United States government is nearly $36 trillion in debt today,” Ernst wrote, drawing parallels to $280 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID spending.
The Commerce Department’s wild CHIPS spending in recent weeks has already matched its total outlays since the program’s inception, according to Ernst, who requested an immediate suspension of new grants until Trump’s commerce secretary is confirmed.
The rushed timeline would require finalizing multi-billion dollar agreements with major semiconductor manufacturers including Intel, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix.
Only two deals have been completed so far, with progress slowed by disagreements over D.E.I. and union requirements.
The CHIPS Act includes 19 sections focused on minority groups and requires manufacturers to submit detailed plans for employing women, people of color, and “justice-involved individuals” before they can receive the Defense-related subsidies.
Republicans have opposed these provisions as distractions from the core goal of domestic chip production: Protect the United States from Chinese military threats.
Raimondo’s push follows other last-minute Biden administration controversy, including former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley’s recent union agreement extending work-from-home through 2029.
The Commerce Secretary has drawn criticism for partisan statements, including calling to “extinguish” Trump after his attempted assassination and dismissing revised Labor Department job numbers unfavorable to the administration, saying “I don’t believe it because I have never heard Donald Trump saying anything truthful.”
Ernst requested information about whether the department is bypassing normal contracting procedures and how it’s coordinating with Trump’s transition team.