Outgoing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is working to spend as much money as possible from one of President Joe Biden’s signature bills before the arrival of the incoming Trump administration, according to Politico.
Congress greenlit $50 billion of subsidies for microchip manufacturing as part of Biden’s 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, and Raimondo is looking to get as much of it into the hands of corporations as quickly as possible with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House looming, she told Politico.
Trump has pledged to claw back billions of dollars authorized by Biden-era legislation and programs, and he will have majorities in the House and Senate to help him do so upon taking office in January 2025.
“I’d like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave,” Raimondo told Politico. “That’s the goal, and I certainly want to have all the major announcements done as it relates to the big, leading-edge companies.”
“I also would like to have all of that research and development money out the door by the time we leave as well,” Raimondo told the outlet.
Raimondo, who said that Trump should be “extinguished” in September after the second attempt on his life, will be replaced by Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick at the top of the Commerce Department provided the Senate votes to confirm him.
While Raimondo is planning to rush federal funding out the door and to recipients, she also said that she is not that worried that Trump and his team will look to substantially curb CHIPS And Science Act funding, she told Politico.
“I don’t worry terribly about any of the chips money being rolled back, as you say,” Raimondo told the outlet. “I mean, the Commerce Department is somewhat unique in so far as everything we’ve done and are doing is bipartisan. And the CHIPS Act is a national security program and still has great bipartisan support to this day. In fact, it was, you know, started in some ways in the Trump administration.”
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