Vivek Ramaswamy is set to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President-elect Donald Trump, along with Elon Musk, to tackle bureaucracy, excessive regulation, and wasteful spending. This announcement comes amid concerns that the Trump administration may reconsider subsidies given to companies in the semiconductor and clean energy sectors under the Biden administration.
On November 26th, Ramaswamy criticized the acceleration of subsidy spending by the Biden administration before Trump’s inauguration on January 20th, citing an interview with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Raimondo previously stated that the aim was to fulfill the semiconductor funding promises made to companies before the transition of power. Companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have yet to receive these subsidies.
The Biden administration is urgently working to finalize agreements with beneficiaries of these subsidies, including announcing a payment of up to $7.866 billion to Intel, to prevent possible policy reversals by the incoming Trump administration. Ramaswamy has expressed intent to review all eleventh-hour actions by the current administration and recommended thorough investigation of such last-minute contracts.
He has strongly advocated for exposing any political appointees from the Biden administration who transition to companies benefiting from these government subsidies. If the Trump administration challenges or retracts these subsidy allocations, it could significantly impact businesses from countries like South Korea, which have invested in the U.S. based on these expected benefits.