Exclusive: Leading U.S. senators are expected to demand that Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo explain her plan to spend the remaining billions of dollars in CHIP and the Science Act before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. .
“President-elect Trump recently ordered Commerce Department officials to work overtime, including weekends, as soon as possible before taking office in January, spending billions of dollars in funding provided by CHIPs and the Science Act. This is extremely worrying,” said the Senate DOGE. Caucus Leader Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wrote in a letter she plans to deliver to Raimondo on Wednesday.
Ernst called on Raimondo, the former Rhode Island governor, to immediately halt the last-minute spending plan.
recent raimondo said politiko She wants to “obligate” almost all of the funding, one of President Biden's major government spending initiatives, “by the time we leave.”
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Gina Raimondo (Reuters/Nathan Howard/File)
The CHIPs Act was proposed by then-Rep. Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan sought to invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, research, development and other related businesses.
Ernst said in the letter that microchips and other “necessities” will strengthen the U.S. economy and supply chain.
She said the success of the CHIPs Act depends on careful planning and implementation, which, in her interpretation, is not reflected in Raimondo's statements regarding future final spending.
”[B]She said it would be unwise for bureaucrats to scrape together billions of dollars to buy things before their terms expire.
He pointed to reports that about $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funds have been wasted or subject to fraud, and said, “Now is not the time to let CHIP fall forever.” said.
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“Digging out taxpayer money as quickly as possible, with little oversight, is one reason the U.S. government is now nearly $36 trillion in debt,” Ernst wrote.
“We may have had a few Black Fridays, but the Biden administration is increasing spending because it believes every tax dollar has to be spent,” Ernst quipped in exclusive comments to Fox News Digital.
“I've never seen bureaucrats work so hard. I'm sure they don't make lists and check twice to find out who's naughty and good. This is retrograde. “DOGE emphasizes the need to shake up Washington and the government to bring much-needed Iowa common sense to the nation's capital,” she said.
Ernst said in the letter that $25 billion of the $53 billion available budget has already been allocated and it is unlikely that last-minute spending will be given the same level of oversight as the first two years. Ta.
In addition to criticizing Raimondo and demanding a halt to spending, Ernst also asked for information on several related areas before the new parliament opens next year.
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Mr. Ernst requested the total number of ongoing negotiations between Commerce Law and CHIPs Act fund applicants, the duration of planned CHIPs projects, and the amounts disbursed through the CHIPs Act before and after Mr. Trump's election victory. There is.
He will also ask Raimondo how his team is working with Trump's transition on this issue.
On January 20, President Trump selected Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to replace Raimondo.
FOX News Digital reached out to Raimondo about the general subject of his remarks to Politico. A representative for Raimondo shared part of her interview with Fox News Digital, saying, “You know, there's a deadline. There's a clear deadline for a change of government. So certainly there's a deadline. It's more focused. But this was the plan we had.''I'm not too worried about the CHIP funding being rolled back. So the Department of Commerce is somewhat unique in that everything we've done and everything we're doing is bipartisan. ,” Raimondo said.
