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USA Rare Earth
CEO Barbara Humpton spoke with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick one month after taking the helm at the critical minerals startup, pitching its assets to the federal government.

Humpton’s November 2025 conversation with Lutnick would ultimately lead to a proposed deal that will provide USA Rare Earth with about $1.6 billion in funding, subject to certain conditions, and a U.S. government equity stake in the company.

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Lutnick asked during the November conversation what would it take for USA Rare Earth to go faster and widen its plans, Humpton said. An interagency meeting was then held with the company, she said.

“We went to work immediately,” the CEO said. “Actually, the Department of Commerce led an all-of-government effort. We had a really first-of-its-kind meeting at the Pentagon with both the Department of War, the Department of Energy and Commerce themselves.”

The Commerce Department’s Chips and Science Act team then “switched into high gear to make sure that we moved at warp speed to understand how to scale up this business and to see the transformative opportunity ahead of us,” Humpton said.

The U.S. is “taking an economic interest in the business, not a governance interest,” said Humpton, a Wake Forest math major. The Commerce Department has tied the deal to USA Rare Earth achieving key milestones.

USA Rare Earth first had to secure at least $500 million in funding from private sources. The company ended up surpassing that goal with $1.5 billion of private investment in public equity (PIPE) funding, Humpton said. The federal government will closely track USA Rare Earth’s progress on its business plan as it disburses the money in stages, she said.

“If we don’t progress with our business, then we won’t receive funding, but as we do progress, we’ll be supported by the American people to ensure we quickly build these assets that are needed for our economic security,” Humpton told CNBC.

CNBC