By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Senator Rick Scott on Wednesday asked Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger for more details on the corporate’s plans to chop greater than 15,000 jobs despite being set to receive nearly $20 billion in U.S. grants and loans to spice up chip production.

In a letter seen by Reuters, Scott questioned if the Commerce Department’s planned awards had failed “to incorporate real metrics that will protect taxpayer dollars from going to firms that would not meet high standards for U.S. manufacturing and job creation.”

The Commerce Department in May announced a preliminary agreement for $8.5 billion in grants and as much as $11 billion in loans for Intel in addition to access to a 25% investment tax credit. The chips award has not been finalized.

The agency declined to comment on Scott’s letter and Intel didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.

The Commerce Department said in May the funding will support the creation of greater than 10,000 manufacturing jobs and nearly 20,000 construction jobs for projects in Arizona, Recent Mexico, Ohio and Oregon.

Intel said this month it will cut costs by $10 billion in 2025 and reduce its workforce by greater than 15%, with a majority of the exits accomplished this yr.

Gelsinger said on the time Intel’s workforce is 10% larger than it was in 2020, when its revenue was $24 billion higher than in 2023 and he needed fewer people at headquarters and more in the sphere supporting customers.

Scott wants Intel to detail what number of U.S. employees will lose their jobs and whether the cuts will impact Intel’s planned semiconductor manufacturing investments.

“What’s Intel trying to attain with these job cuts, and why have billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in investments not been sufficient support to avert the necessity for lay-offs?” Scott asked.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jamie Freed)