Congress
Ramaswamy threatens DOGE review of Biden’s microchip funding spree
Vivek Ramaswamy took to X Tuesday to criticize the Biden administration’s push to get $50 billion in chipmaking subsidies signed and awarded before President-elect Donald Trump takes power in January.
“This is highly inappropriate: they’re accelerating spending ahead of the transition of power,” Ramaswamy said, linking to a POLITICO interview with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo where she discussed her remaining work to implement the CHIPS and Science Act.
“I’d like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave,” Raimondo told Blue Light News last week. She said the forthcoming change in administration sets “a clear deadline” that “focuses the mind,” noting that her timeline was always the plan, and not driven by the threat of a clawback under the Trump administration.
The administration finalized more than $16 billion in final awards for five companies after the election: TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Rocket Lab, BAE Systems and Intel. The Biden administration had unveiled just one contract before that, $123 million for Minnesota chipmaker Polar Semiconductor.
Ramaswamy announced Monday night that he and Elon Musk’s new “Department of Government Efficiency” will review every last-minute contract rolled out under the CHIPS Act, and another Biden administration spending initiative, the Inflation Reduction Act. Ramaswamy said he will also recommend that inspectors general scrutinize the spending.
Trump has derided the CHIPS Act as “so bad,” arguing that tariffs would have been a better approach to incentivize domestic manufacturing. But he has yet to suggest any explicit changes to the law’s implementation.
A crucial committee vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general could be postponed, Sen. John Cornyn said Tuesday, amid a struggle over changing a settlement agreement Blanche brokered between President Donald Trump and the IRS.
Cornyn (R-Texas) said a delay in the planned Senate Judiciary Committee vote Thursday is “being discussed but hopefully … won’t be necessary” as he pushes for ironclad modifications to the IRS settlement that created a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and immunized Trump from tax audits.
“If there’s not enough votes to confirm him, then Senator Grassley might decide to postpone it. But I don’t think that’s the No. 1 goal right now,” Cornyn said, referring to Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Cornyn said he had discussed the idea of postponement with other senators but not directly with Grassley. A spokesperson for Grassley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has also been undecided on Blanche’s nomination, have significant leverage. Due to blanket Democratic opposition, it would take only one Republican “no” to effectively kill Blanche’s nomination.
Cornyn and his staff have been talking to the Justice Department about modifying the settlement, and the senator insists he wants the changes in writing.
“They know what they need to do,” Cornyn said Tuesday about DOJ. “They just don’t want to do it.”
Senate Republicans will hear from White House budget director Russ Vought and President Donald Trump’s top legislative aide, James Braid, at their weekly Wednesday lunch. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich will also attend, according to a person granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling.
The visit from Vought and Braid comes as GOP senators struggle to coalesce behind a budget blueprint for a new $95 billion party-line spending bill that is backed by the White House.
A coalition of 60 child safety groups is urging top lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee to take up robust online safety legislation in a markup tentatively expected next week.
In a letter sent Monday and shared first with Blue Light News, the bloc demanded that committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) only consider legislation with a “duty of care” standard that would require tech companies to mitigate harms they know their platforms cause children.
When the House passed a kids’ online safety package last month, it did not include the provision — an omission that the groups said neutered the bill and “would not actually make kids safer online.”
“This approach would immunize platforms from accountability for the design choices, such as engagement-maximizing feeds, autoplay, and algorithmic amplification, that drive documented harms to young people,” wrote the signers, which include Common Sense Media, Design It For Us, ParentsTogether Action and the Young People’s Alliance.
They also asked the senators not to preempt state artificial intelligence laws and to instead follow the House’s model, in which states could craft regulations stricter than the federal standard.
“Families who have lost children to online harms have spent years telling their stories to this Congress,” the coalition wrote. “And with each day Congress fails to act, more children are being harmed and are dying.”
Last week, Cruz and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who has been negotiating a safety-focused legislative package with the White House, met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Trump did not commit to throwing his political weight behind her effort after Cruz said it did not have enough support to clear the chamber.
Meanwhile, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) introduced the Digital Age Assurance Act on Thursday. Modeled after a similar California bill, it would require operating system providers such as Apple and Google to collect users’ ages in an effort to ensure that children see only age-appropriate content online.
Cruz and Cantwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Blanche vote could be postponed, Cornyn says
- It’s Newt (and Russ and James)
- A forced-labor crackdown or an end-run around Congress? Dissecting Trump’s new tariffs
- Data center boom sparks lobbying surge
- Kids’ safety advocates draw red lines for Senate online safety package
- Beshear urges McConnell to provide more info on his health or resign
- Trump tried to make an example of Rosie O’Donnell. It backfired.
- Former DOJ lawyer spotlights death threats after Blanche testimony
- Capitol agenda: Graham’s legacy faces uncertain future
- Trump and Democratic states clash in court over who’s too sick to work
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