WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Commerce announced last week that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will assume operational control of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), ending the role of the National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technology (Natcast). The decision follows a legal review concluding that the prior administration’s establishment of Natcast violated federal law, rendering its agreement with the Commerce Department invalid.
The NSTC, created under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, was designed to drive advanced semiconductor research, expand the domestic workforce, and strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. While the CHIPS Act required the Commerce Department to oversee the NSTC, officials in the Biden Administration instead established Natcast, a private nonprofit corporation, to operate the center’s public-private consortium.
According to the Commerce Department, this arrangement violated the Government Corporation Control Act, which prohibits federal agencies from creating entities to act on their behalf unless explicitly authorized by Congress. Officials allege that Biden-era appointees circumvented the law by selecting individuals aligned with administration priorities to form Natcast’s leadership, effectively placing control of taxpayer funds into an organization outside direct federal oversight.
Documents reviewed by the Department indicate that Natcast’s trustees received legal and corporate guidance from the administration, including proposed bylaws and recommendations for incorporation, which were adopted with little modification. The Commerce Department concluded that these actions improperly delegated operational authority over the NSTC and failed to meet statutory requirements for transparency and accountability.
In January 2025, days before President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, the Biden Administration finalized an agreement granting Natcast up to $7.4 billion in federal funding to run the NSTC over the next decade. The Commerce Department has now declared that agreement void, asserting that none of its provisions — including limits on termination rights — are enforceable.
“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,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. He stressed that bringing NSTC operations under NIST control ensures the Commerce Department maintains oversight of federal investments intended to strengthen U.S. semiconductor leadership.
With NIST assuming direct operational responsibility, the Commerce Department says it will prioritize compliance with federal law while continuing efforts to accelerate domestic semiconductor research, bolster supply chain resilience, and advance national security objectives.
The move represents a significant shift in the management of one of the CHIPS Act’s cornerstone programs, signaling an increased focus on federal accountability in administering billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded investments critical to U.S. technological competitiveness.
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