House Speaker Proposes Chips and Science Act Repeal, Quickly Backtracks
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., noted interest Friday in having the chamber repeal the 2022 Chips and Science Act before quickly reversing course following a bipartisan outcry against the idea. During a campaign appearance Friday in Syracuse, New York, Johnson…
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said that a GOP-led House next year “probably will” try repealing the Chips and Science Act, but “we haven't developed that part of the agenda yet.” The statute allocated $52 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing (see 2207280060). “What we oppose to in that bill is that it had too much crammed into it,” Johnson said: “When you take the Green New Deal out of the equation you will save trillions of dollars in the long run.” Johnson later clarified that instead there “could be legislation to further streamline and improve the primary purpose of” the Chips and Science Act by eliminating “its costly regulation and Green New Deal requirements.” Rep. Brandon Williams of New York, a Republican facing a tough reelection fight whom Johnson was campaigning for, issued a statement that he “spoke privately with the Speaker immediately after the event. He apologized profusely, saying he misheard the question. He clarified his comments on the spot and I trust local media to play his full comments on supporting repatriation of chips manufacturing to America.” Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presidential nominee against former President Donald Trump, criticized Johnson Saturday. “Let's be clear why he walked it back: because it's not popular,” Harris said during a campaign appearance in Milwaukee. “It is my plan and intention to continue to invest in American manufacturing, the work being done by American workers” to invest “in American industries, including our industries of the future. That is the way we are going to win the competition with China for the 21st Century.”