WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday it was voiding an agreement finalized under President Joe Biden with an outside center to oversee $7.4 billion in semiconductor research funds.

The department said the department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology will assume operational responsibility for the National Semiconductor Technology Center from the private non-profit National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technology (Natcast).

The department said the Biden administration illegally created Natcast and as a result the agreement granting the organization up to $7.4 billion in taxpayer money is invalid.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter)