Biden administration appoints six policy experts to lead CHIPS Act implementation

The Biden administration has named six policy leaders within the White House and Department of Commerce who will lead the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act.

Ronnie Chatterji will serve as White House Coordinator for CHIPS implementation at the National Economic Council, in which role he will work closely with the National Security Council, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Commerce and the Steering Council.

At the Department of Commerce, Michael Schmidt will join the agency as director of the CHIPS program office. Eric Lin takes up the role of interim director of the CHIPS research and development office, while Todd Fisher joins the CHIPS program office at Commerce as interim senior adviser.

Donna Dubinsky has also been named as senior counselor to the secretary for CHIPS Implementation and J.D. Grom serves as senior adviser to the secretary on CHIPS implementation. Dubinsky and Grom both work in the Office of the Commerce Secretary.

The new appointments come after President Biden earlier this week signed an executive order to implement the semiconductor funding included in the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

That executive order included a range of measures including the creation of an interagency CHIPS Implementation Steering Council and the setting out of six primary priorities to guide implementation across the federal government.

The CHIPS Act, which was signed into law last month, provides about $52.7 billion to drive semiconductor research, development, manufacturing and workforce development across the U.S.  Of that total, $39 billion is included for manufacturing incentives and $13.2 billion is included for R&D and workforce development.

The Department of Commerce has also launched CHIPS.gov, which is intended to provide a central repository of resources for companies seeking to access funding.

Commenting on the appointments, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said: “After outlining a thoughtful and comprehensive strategy for CHIPS for America, we are wasting no time building an office with experts and leaders who will efficiently execute this work.”

“These leaders bring decades of experience in government, industry and the R&D space, with a special emphasis on standing up and implementing large-scale programs,” she added. “Their work will be essential to bolstering our supply chains, spurring historic investments in research, strengthening our national security, and creating good-paying jobs for the American people.”