Senators Grill NIST Director Nominee

Arvind Raman, the nominee to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology, pledged to deliver on the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan and “enable an era of maximum American innovation” in his nomination hearing on Thursday. Senators pressed Raman on NIST’s withholding of funds for programs authorized in the CHIPS and Science Act and the Commerce Department’s equity deals with semiconductor and critical mineral companies.

Raman currently serves as dean of engineering at Purdue University, where he has worked as a professor of mechanical engineering since 2000. In his opening remarks, he mentioned that he spent a month at NIST early in his career, which he called “the start of many fruitful collaborations with NIST.” Trump first nominated Raman last November.

“NIST has been foundational to advancing American industrial competitiveness,” Raman said, praising its leadership in AI metrology and cybersecurity standards and describing the agency’s scientists as being “at the frontiers of quantum science.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he hopes Raman will execute the AI Action Plan and “return NIST to its intended, non-regulatory function.” Under the Biden administration, NIST was “diverted from its objective, science-based mission,” Cruz said, when it put out the AI Risk Management Framework.

Cruz asked Raman if he committed to “reorienting NIST to its apolitical mission and ensuring that it does not serve as an engine for divisive left-wing ideology, even under the guise of ‘safety’ or increasing trust in technology.” Raman replied that he did.

Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) asked Raman if he agreed that “the most important aspect of NIST is the standard-setting.”

“It’s extremely important for America to lead in tech standard-setting that ensures expanded markets for our technologies, but also that American values are what underpin international commerce,” Raman replied.

“I’m not sure everyone in the administration agrees on that, so I hope that you can be a loud voice for this,” Cantwell said. “I think people hear the word ‘standards,’ and then all of a sudden are like, ‘Oh, this is a regulation,’ when in reality, you are talking about a voluntary process to accelerate our competitiveness,” she added.

Equity stakes and revenue-sharing

Cruz expressed concern about NIST taking equity stakes in semiconductor and critical mineral companies. The Commerce Department has announced equity deals with several companies using CHIPS and Science Act funds, the largest being an $8.9 billion stake in Intel.

Cruz asked Raman if he agrees that “federal equity deals tie up taxpayer dollars for a considerable amount of time with no guaranteed return on investment,” and if the government could be “pressured to use taxpayer dollars to hedge losses” from underperforming companies.

“Senator, I’m not in the role, so I don’t know the details of what may or may not have happened in this case, but I’m committed to making sure that NIST makes best use of resources provided by Congress to advance semiconductor leadership globally,” Raman replied.

Cantwell asked Raman about the revenue-sharing clause in NIST’s broad solicitation for semiconductor research, which the Commerce Department said will be “the primary mechanism” for the department to make awards for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and other CHIPS R&D programs. Raman said he did not know the specifics.

“Read a little bit more about that and give us an answer. You’re going to head this organization; we want to hear your views about those policies, because they’re pretty big policies. We think the agency is making some pretty big mistakes. We want to know what your philosophy is,” Cantwell said.

CHIPS funds

Cantwell asked Raman if he would commit to giving the committee “a full accounting of how we’re going to meet the goals of the CHIPS and Science Act that you’re responsible for.” She noted in her opening remarks that the act required the NSTC to operate as a public-private consortium. Last year, the Commerce Department announced it was “clawing back” $7.4 billion from Natcast, the nonprofit that was operating the NSTC. Cantwell said the department had “caused confusion and created needless uncertainty at NIST.”

Raman did not answer Cantwell’s question directly, but said semiconductors would be a high priority for NIST and that he intends to work with Congress to provide any resources needed to advance American leadership in that sector.

Cantwell and several other senators, both Democrats and Republicans, grilled Raman over reports that NIST has withhheld and delayed funding for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. MEP is a public-private partnership that provides cost-sharing and other services to small and medium-sized manufacturers. The program was reauthorized in the CHIPS and Science Act and received $175 million through annual appropriations for fiscal year 2026. Raman said he did not know the specifics of the program but committed to restoring MEP funding once the findings from an Office of Inspector General investigation are “resolved.”

NIST’s international researcher policy

Senators did not question Raman over recent policy changes at NIST limiting access for international researchers. Multiple outlets have reported that the agency has begun implementing a three-year limit for international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to conduct research at NIST. This “effectively prevents any foreign student from being able to complete a doctorate at NIST,” according to a letter from Democrats on the House Science Committee. NIST did not reply to a request for comment, but the agency released a statement to some outlets saying that the policy remains “under development.”