Quote:The change of presidential administrations is usually smooth, at least on the surface. Notwithstanding the claim that Trump 45 wouldn’t leave the White House, he did. Trump didn’t wait around for the now-traditional greeting of the then-president-elect Joe Biden. Last week, Trump and Joe Biden sat for a meeting. They were both all smiles. Melania declined to meet with her counterpart.

Sometimes, the changeover is punctuated with childish behavior. A story about Clinton’s outgoing White House staff removing “W” keys from keyboards before George W. Bush took office was, unfortunately, just a story. There was trash left in offices and office hallways, but that is standard fair. In past changeovers, doorknobs were removed. One can only guess what lower staffers will do this time around, since many of them clung to the “Trump is Hitler" canard.

Biden’s administration apparently has plans to “Trump-proof” as much as they can. The Inflation Reduction Act had little to nothing to do with the reduction of inflation. Components included 7.5 Billion dollars for EV charging stations. Only eight have been built.

Another part of that act is a smart investment in America known as the CHIPS Act. Domestic chip manufacturing. Instead of relying on Taiwan, companies would produce chips in America, reducing our reliance on foreign sources.

Passed in August 2022, the CHIPS Act incentivizes manufacturers to bring semiconductor manufacturing to the United States to create more skilled manufacturing jobs and make the United States self-sufficient and independent of China. Among a variety of science and technology incentive programs, Section 102(a) of the CHIPS Act contributes $50 billion allocated over five years to the “CHIPS for America Fund,” specifically for research and development and workforce development conducted in the United States. Within this $50 billion allocation, $39 billion will be dedicated to incentive programs, with $2 billion of that amount dedicated to legacy chip production for the advancement of U.S. economic and national security interests and production of semiconductors necessary for the military, automotive, and other critical industries (CHIPS Act, §102(a)(3)).

Biden’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is in “charge” of CHIPS Act spending. She was interviewed by Politico.

Raimondo took a long view of the shifts at Commerce, which under Biden has helped develop a significant chunk of the Washington tech agenda.

The department has handled not just microchip spending, but also the evolving rules around the powerful new artificial intelligence models, and organized the global AI safety summit being held Wednesday and Thursday in San Francisco.

“Now some people call me the Sec of Tech,” she said, “which is accurate.”

Raimondo wants to spend all the cash at her disposal (39 Billion dollars left) and sign contracts leaving “no cash” for Trump’s administration. But there is no indication that Trump's DOGE, or his incoming Commerce Secretary, or the 119th Congress would object to the money already allocated. It brings chip manufacturing to America. In fact, Raimondo admitted that there is bipartisan support in Congress for the CHIPS Act. So why the rush?

Raimondo has directed her staff to “even work weekends” to get the money spent and contracts signed. In her haste to have all the money spent (and take full credit), she might be better served to ask the Trump transition team what the new administration plans to do. She might be surprised that Trump and his incoming administration are supportive of an America-first chip act.

Raimondo recently said that she has "never heard Trump say anything truthful."

It seems that Raimondo might be motivated more by hatred for Trump than by good policy choices. Rushing into contracts is never a good idea. One hopes that Raimondo’s Commerce Department staff doesn’t engage in bad deals like Obama’s Solyndra debacle. In fact, Obama's administration funded a number of companies that turned out to be terrible investments because his administration was in a hurry to look “Green.”

Biden’s Commerce Department has billions to spend – let’s hope it doesn’t pour money into black holes, like Solyndra in a hurry to "beat Trump."