Warren Presses Commerce Secretary on Trump’s Deal to Give the U.S. 10% Stake in Intel

Warren Presses Commerce Secretary on Trump's Deal to Give the U.S. 10% Stake in Intel

Taxpayers now on the hook for billions, with few protections from offshoring, layoffs, or big stock buybacks

"The President claims to be a master dealmaker - but in this case, he allowed workers, taxpayers, and the government to be taken for a ride."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the Department of Commerce, regarding the Trump Administration's recent decision to commit billions in taxpayer dollars to take an ownership stake in Intel without safeguards for American workers or families - in contrast to Biden Administration's CHIPS Act which provided funding to Intel but with clear requirements to build factories, support labor unions and affordable childcare, and limit stock buybacks.

"(O)n August 22, 2025, after a meeting with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, the President announced that the federal government would be converting the CHIPS grants awarded to Intel into equity, taking a 10% stake in the company," the Senator wrote. "The President's remarks in the following days involved fantastical claims, such as his assertion that he paid 'zero' for $11 billion in shares of Intel. But the details of the President's deal, revealed by Intel in its latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, tell a different story: the President is handing billions of dollars of taxpayer money to Intel and asking for nothing in return."

Ranking Member Warren continued: "What is the American public getting from this deal? An extremely risky investment. Intel's stock lost 60 percent of its value last year, and its new CEO has revealed no plans to turn the company around beyond cutting jobs. You have claimed that the taxpayers are getting "a piece of the action - but this comes with significant risks as the company is suffering from declining revenue, missed business opportunities, and a struggle to operationalize new manufacturing processes."

Ranking Member Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) co-sponsored a 2022 amendment to the CHIPS Act that would have, as a condition of funding, granted the government an equity stake in Intel to exchange for federal funding for childcare, early education, and infrastructure. In this latest letter, Ranking Member Warren pressed the Commerce Secretary on more transparency in the Administration's decision to use taxpayer money without any benefit to Americans.

"President Trump has indicated that he is not done with significant government interventions in the private sector, indicating that he intends to "have many more cases" like Intel. If this is true, the President should learn the lessons from his bad deal with Intel and ensure that, rather than simply handing out billions of dollars to corporate CEOs, he adequately protects taxpayers, workers, and communities when the government plays an active role in private sector investments," the Senator concluded.

The Senator asked Commerce Secretary Lutnick to answer questions regarding the Intel arrangement no later than September 17th, 2025.

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