The White House is developing plans to set up a US sovereign wealth fund able to make big investments in strategic sectors, in a break from Washington’s economic orthodoxy as it tries to compete with deep-pocketed geopolitical rivals.
A White House official said on Friday that senior members of the Biden administration, including Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, and Daleep Singh, the top aide on international economics, had been working on the plans “quietly” in recent months.
The White House official said “the fund’s structure, funding model and investment strategy are still under active discussion”. However, the push was “serious enough” that other government agencies were involved and they planned to “engage Congress, and key stakeholders in the private sector, on next steps”.