Opinion: Cato's Tad DeHaven Says Trump's Company Stakes Hand the Next Democratic President a Powerful Tool
A libertarian analyst writing on Fox's opinion page counts 40 government ownership deals and says Republicans should unwind them before a President Newsom or Ocasio-Cortez inherits them.
Tad DeHaven, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, argues in a Fox News column that Republicans should end the administration's habit of taking equity in private companies.
His count. He says the administration has announced or completed deals for ownership stakes in 40 companies, with four more proposed by the Commerce Department this week, based on a running tally Cato keeps.
The warning. Democrats are already thinking about it, he writes. He cites a Semafor report that former Biden officials see government ownership as a lever on gun and oil companies, and a former Federal Trade Commission aide who sees a future Democrat using it on AI firms. "Will they still applaud when a President Gavin Newsom or President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does it?" he asks. "No."
The money. Even if the government sold its whole Intel stake today, he says, it would net about $28 billion, under 1.5% of the roughly $2 trillion deficit in the fiscal year that just ended. He adds that paper gains are not revenue, and that stakes can pull private investment from better businesses and give favored firms an edge over upstarts.
The national security case. DeHaven says the government can support supply chains through purchase contracts, stockpiles, easier permitting and fewer tariffs on inputs without becoming a shareholder. He points to an April bailout that could have given the government 90% of Spirit Airlines and to a report that the FAA is looking at a stake in an air traffic software firm. He rejects the "passive shareholder" promise as "painfully naive," saying the administration already uses contracts and regulation to favor companies it owns.
His ask. Divest, and if the goal is revenue, sell excess federal buildings and privatize businesses like Amtrak.
Note for readers: this is one analyst's argument from a libertarian think tank, and it criticizes the president's own policy. The administration's reasons for the stakes appear only as DeHaven describes them. We have not checked the count of 40 deals or the figures he cites.