Trump Administration Terminates Biden’s $7.4 Billion “Natcast” Scheme

The Trump administration has officially pulled the plug on a controversial $7.4 billion deal funneled into an entity that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick declared was “illegally created” by the Biden White House to serve as a partisan jobs program.

On Monday, Lutnick announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will directly oversee the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), eliminating the Biden-era intermediary known as the National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technology (Natcast).

According to the New York Post, the CHIPS Act authorized $11 billion in research funding through the Commerce Department. But it never required — nor legally allowed — the creation of Natcast, which Lutnick said was little more than a soft landing spot for Biden administration insiders.

“From the very beginning Natcast served as a semiconductor slush fund that did nothing but line the pockets of Biden loyalists with American tax dollars,” Lutnick said in a statement released on the Commerce Department’s website.

He added: “The Biden Administration had no authority to manipulate legislation in a way that would allow them to establish, staff, and govern a corporation to act as a government agency. Ending this illegal relationship between Natcast and the NSTC will ensure that the Commerce Department keeps control of taxpayer funds and delivers investments and benefits for all Americans.”

How Biden’s Team Engineered the Deal

The Commerce Department release detailed how Biden officials deliberately sidestepped legal limits. Officials created a “Selection Committee” stacked with Biden allies, including Jason Matheny, who held multiple roles in the Biden White House; Don Rosenberg, a venture capitalist whose portfolio received at least $117 million in federal grants; and Brenda Wilkerson, who describes herself as an advocate for “social justice for underrepresented communities in technology.”

That committee handpicked the group behind Natcast, which was then staffed with former Biden officials and advisors from the Industrial Advisory Committee — the very group responsible for guiding the CHIPS Act. Commerce Department staff even walked Natcast leaders through the incorporation process.

Rather than house operations within the Department, Biden officials funneled time, resources, and authority into an outside entity, effectively shielding billions in taxpayer dollars from direct congressional and executive accountability.

The $7.4 Billion Giveaway

Just days before President Trump’s inauguration, the Biden administration executed an agreement with Natcast on January 16, 2025. That agreement immediately advanced $7.4 billion to the new entity, while imposing restrictions that sought to tie the hands of future administrations.

Lutnick noted in his termination letter that the deal required annual payments to Natcast, restricted the government’s ability to end the contract, and removed normal safeguards for taxpayer funds.

“These actions do not just give the appearance of impropriety; they flout federal law,” Lutnick wrote.

He further explained: “The Department under the Biden Administration had no specific legal authorization to establish Natcast as it did — the CHIPS Act does not contain a provision specifically permitting the creation of a corporation to serve as the operator of the NSTC. In sum, the Biden Administration’s creation of Natcast for the purpose of operating the NSTC violated the lawful limits on the federal government’s authority.”

Restoring Accountability

By ending the arrangement, Lutnick said President Trump’s administration is restoring accountability and ensuring American leadership in the semiconductor sector is advanced through lawful channels.

“Ending this illegal relationship will ensure efficient use of taxpayer funds and continued American leadership in the semiconductor industry, and it will return responsibility — and accountability — for faithfully executing the CHIPS Act to the Department, as Congress intended,” he concluded.