Congressional Republicans are split on how they feel about the White House’s move to acquire equity in Intel.
The Trump administration and chip manufacturer announced the deal last week, which will see the U.S. invest $8.9 billion in unpaid grants from the CHIPS and Science Act for a 10% stake in the company.
The move caused a stir among some Republicans, including Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., one of the architects of the CHIPS Act.
“It was not the intent of the law, you know, an equity stake to be taken,” Young said. “But it was the intent to ensure that we enhance our economic security and national security, which is the objective that they are trying, that the administration is trying to advance.”
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Under the law, which was passed under the Biden administration in 2022, Intel was slated to receive nearly $11 billion in funding to bolster chipmaking in the U.S. Just 24 and 17 Republicans voted for it in the House and Senate, respectively.
President Donald Trump signaled Intel might be the first of several such deals, however.
“I PAID ZERO FOR INTEL, IT IS WORTH APPROXIMATELY 11 BILLION DOLLARS,” he said on Truth Social. “All goes to the USA. Why are ‘stupid’ people unhappy with that? I will make deals like that for our Country all day long.”
And National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Monday, “I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions, if not in this industry, then in other industries.”
When asked if this was a strategy that the administration should use repeatedly, however, Young said “no.”
“The U.S. federal government should not be buying companies,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Fox News Digital.
But Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, countered at a forum with the Cleveland City Club last week that the CHIPS Act effectively gave Intel billions in taxpayer money with little in return. The company announced two semiconductor projects in Ohio and planned to have a semiconductor manufacturing facility operational by now, but the project has reportedly been delayed several years.
He argued that Trump’s point was not to bail out the company, but instead that “if a company is going to ask for help, if a company is going to ask for money, the taxpayer should get equity.” If successful, he said, “we can sell that equity and recoup the money for the taxpayer. To me, that’s common sense.”
Other lawmakers, like Bacon, viewed the acquisition as a slippery slope more in line with governments like China and Russia.
“It is not the constitutional role of our government, and we do not want to be like the capitals in Beijing or Moscow,” Bacon said.
Bluegrass State Republicans Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie also piled on the deal; Paul called the move a “terrible idea” and suggested that the government owning a stake in Intel would be “a step toward socialism.”
Massie contended that the government should not have private ownership in private companies and panned the CHIPS Act as a “corporate welfare program that failed.”
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“Only 24 Republicans voted for it,” he said on X. “It should be a part of a rescissions package, but instead it’s now being used to socialize corporate ownership.”
Meanwhile, some lawmakers were not as ready to blast the deal, or future deals, for either running afoul of the law or being a step toward the government owning the means of production.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital that he had not looked at the deal specifically but said that “there’s conversations that have to be had on this subject, and under what circumstances is it appropriate or not appropriate, and to be determined.”
And Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., viewed the deal as a boon to the country, particularly in the quest to ween America off of imports of chips.
“Relying on foreign suppliers puts us at a disadvantage and risks our security,” he told Fox News Digital. “By converting $11 billion of CHIPS Act grants to Intel into equity, we are strengthening our supply chain, building chips here at home, and ensuring taxpayers get a return on their investment.”
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And Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., dismissed fellow GOP colleagues’ concerns about how the CHIPS Act was being used.
“I think the president is making lemonade out of lemons,” Fine told Fox News Digital. “I mean, the CHIPS Act wasn’t our idea. Joe Biden wanted to give away the farm. Well, President Trump’s trying to turn that into something good for America.”
White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital when reached for comment, “The previous administration pushed legislation to dole out billions in grants that prioritized DEI over taxpayer return to some of the largest semiconductor companies in the world.”
“Now the Trump administration is ensuring that taxpayers are able to reap the upside of the federal government’s investments into safeguarding our national and economic security – all while simultaneously pushing supply-side reforms like deregulation and The One Big Beautiful Bill’s tax cuts to let the free market restore America as the world’s most dynamic economy,” Desai said.
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