Rick Scott wants federal money back from Intel

Rick Scott, Jeff Merkley file bill to stop U.S. funds for Chinese forced labor.

Florida’s senior Senator wants a tech company to refund taxpayer dollars.

Backing President Donald Trump’s denunciation of Intel Thursday morning, Rick Scott said on X, in a post rife with all caps words for emphasis, that the company “owes American taxpayers answers TODAY.”

“Intel accepted tax dollars from the CHIPS Act, and instead of investing in America, they cut jobs in the U.S. and hired a CEO with a cozy relationship to the CCP. The CHIPS Act was intended to benefit America, not our adversaries. Intel should return every dime of this taxpayer funding IMMEDIATELY!”

Trump claims the Intel CEO is “highly CONFLICTED” and “must resign, immediately.”

Intel got $7.86 billion during the Joe Biden administration for semiconductor manufacturing and plants in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon, as the company was “nearing completion of a historic pace of semiconductor node development to regain process technology leadership.”

But Lip-Bu Tan, the new CEO, has historic ties to Chinese companies and reported current investments in the country, raising concerns for Republicans despite assertions that all parties are “deeply committed to the national security of the United States and the integrity of our role in the U.S. defense ecosystem,” made after Sen. Tom Cotton questioned “the security and integrity of Intel’s operations and its potential impact on U.S. national security.”