Socialism

The GOP Is Warning About Socialism While Quietly Embracing It

Federal ownership of private companies has become routine. And it is happening on the right, even as conservatives point fingers at the left for its socialism.

Veronique de Rugy | 8.6.2026 5:15 PM

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(Illustration: Midjourney)

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) released their platform last month, and let's give them credit for candor. They want public ownership of large corporations, the abolition of police and prisons, a defunded Pentagon, and open borders. Conservatives read that document and saw the future they have been warning American voters about: the government seizing the commanding heights of the economy and becoming owner rather than referee.

Their alarm is warranted. The socialist program would be a catastrophe. So, here's an awkward question: Why is a Republican administration quietly doing the public ownership of businesses part on its own?

Last week, the Commerce Department announced that letters of intent have been signed to provide federal incentives to seven more companies under the CHIPS program. Each letter of intent is conditioned on the government taking an equity stake. By a Cato Institute count, that brings the federal corporate portfolio to roughly 30 firms.

A year ago, these deals looked like improvisation—one-offs stitched together under pressure with........

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