Donald Trump surprised many in August when he made the government the owner of 9.9% of the troubled U.S. chip maker Intel. The administration paid for the Intel equity using $8.9 billion of the Biden administration’s CHIPs and Science Act grant money that had already been earmarked for Intel. The new grant money supplements the $2.2 billion in CHIPS Act grants Intel already received, bringing the government’s total investment to $11.1 billion.

Intel’s finance chief David Zinsner said the government’s investment incentivizes Intel to maintain majority control over its contract chip-fabrication business. As part of the deal, the government holds a five-year warrant to buy 5% more Intel shares if the company’s ownership of its chip foundry operation falls below 51%.

What would a newly elected Democratic administration do with the government’s stake? It likely would keep it. Here’s why.

Interestingly, bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, prominent progressives, originally suggested the government take an ownership stake in chip companies receiving CHIPS Act grants. They proposed an amendment to the CHIPs act that would have required grant recipients to “issue warrants or equity stakes to the Federal Government,” as Sanders stated in floor remarks in July of 2022. The amendment, which failed to pass, also would have prevented CHIPS Act recipients from using the funds for stock buybacks, offshoring U.S. jobs, or discouraging unionization. Opponents, like the U.S.Chamber of Commerce, warned that the amendment would “turn innovative manufacturers into state-owned enterprises” and harm U.S. competitiveness.

Sanders, an autonomous who caucuses with the Democrats, supports the Trump administration’s ownership share in Intel, arguing that U.S. taxpayers deserve a “reasonable return” when providing financial aid.