Washington Now Owns Stakes in 41 Companies — and Congress Wants Answers

The U.S. government held equity positions in 41 companies by November, up from 14 in January, according to the Cato Institute's tracker cited by CNBC. The portfolio spans Intel and MP Materials, quantum computing start-ups and a planned submarine shipyard near Baltimore. Almost all of it was built by executive agencies reading old grant, loan and defense-production laws as permission to buy shares — and in January it meets a Congress Donald Trump no longer controls.

Democrats took the House and Senate in the November 3 midterm, and their leaders have pledged to investigate alleged corruption in the administration's corporate dealings. Notably, no new stock position has been announced since the election. Sarah Bauerle Danzman of Indiana University, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told CNBC that a lame-duck Trump "might feel he has less to lose" in striking more deals.

What does the government actually own?

The program began with a single share. When Nippon Steel bought U.S. Steel in June 2025, the government received a "golden share" giving the president veto power over pay, capital investment and even the company's name; after Trump leaves office, that veto passes to the Treasury and Commerce departments.

The Pentagon followed in July, buying $400 million of MP Materials preferred stock plus a warrant — roughly 15% on an as-converted basis, making the Defense Department the largest shareholder, alongside a 10-year price floor for rare earth oxides.

Intel is the largest cash deal. In August 2025 the government bought 433.3 million new shares at $20.47, a 9.9% stake, paid for with $5.7 billion in unpaid CHIPS Act grants and $3.2 billion from the Secure Enclave program, plus a five-year warrant for another 5% if Intel stops owning at least 51% of its foundry business. Intel says the stake is passive, with no board seat.

Other disclosed deals include:

• Lithium Americas — 5% warrants and 5% of the Thacker Pass JV with GM, tied to a restructured $2.26 billion Energy Department loan (Oct 2025)
• Trilogy Metals — about 10% for $35.6 million, warrants up to 17.5% (Oct 2025)
• Westinghouse — 20% of cash distributions above $17.5 billion once it commits to an $80 billion reactor program (Oct 2025)
• L3Harris Missile Solutions — $1 billion of convertible preferred (Jan 2026)
• USA Rare Earth — 8% to 16%, attached to a $277 million award and $1.3 billion loan (Jan 2026)
• Nine quantum firms — minority stakes attached to over $2 billion in Commerce awards (May 2026)
• Seven chip R&D firms — minority stakes on up to $874 million (Jul 2026)
• Anduril shipyard unit — taxpayers get 40% of a subsidiary backed by a $2.9 billion Navy contract (Oct 2026)

Some 2026 entries are letters of intent that can shrink before signing, Cato notes.

Is any of this legal?

The ground is thin. Congress gave explicit equity authority only to bodies like the International Development Finance Corporation and the Small Business Administration, former assistant secretary of defense Laura Taylor-Kale wrote for the Council on Foreign Relations in July; the rest of the deals rest on stretched readings of grant statutes, with "few, if any, details on how the deals are structured."

A September Lawfare analysis concluded the Pentagon's stakes in MP Materials, Trilogy Metals, a Korea Zinc venture and L3Harris's missile unit are probably unlawful, because Defense Production Act Title III purchases above $50 million need prior congressional authorization. OMB asked for explicit equity language in the 2026 defense bill and didn't get it. And Intel shareholder Richard Paisner sued Intel's board, CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Delaware's Court of Chancery in March, arguing the government got Intel stock "for no meaningful consideration."

What levers do Democrats hold?

Subpoenas come first. In July, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Adam Schiff sought records from Skadden Arps, which advised Intel and pledged $100 million of pro bono work to causes the president favors; the firm provided nothing. From January, committee chairs can compel them. Rep. Jared Huffman has already told 27 companies and nine agencies to preserve records.

Must-pass bills come second. Most DPA authorities run only to December 11, setting up a reauthorization fight. A Democratic majority could write in disclosure requirements, ownership caps, sale timelines or conflict-of-interest bars — or bar agencies from spending appropriations on equity at all.

The limits are real, too. Existing stakes are contracts and share certificates; unwinding them means selling, which the administration controls. Cato's Tad DeHaven estimated in October that selling the whole Intel stake would net roughly $28 billion. And Democrats aren't united: Bernie Sanders backed the Intel stake, Ro Khanna said he had "no problem" with it, and Elizabeth Warren's objection was that the deal had "no meaningful strings attached."

The likely fight, Bauerle Danzman told CNBC, is over "accountability and anti-corruption" — testing whether the stakes serve "genuine national security priorities" or hand "special favors to political and family connections." The next fixed date is December 11, when the DPA extension expires.