House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) answers questions during a press conference with Republican leadership at the Capitol on September 18, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that Republicans “will probably try to repeal” a bill to boost U.S. semiconductor chip production, but quickly walked back his statement, saying he instead wanted to “streamline” the bill. I tried.
Mr. Johnson made his first comments while campaigning for a vulnerable New York Republican in a district where a large new Micron semiconductor manufacturing plant is planned.
A reporter asked Johnson if he would try to scrap the bipartisan agreement. CHIPS and scientific lawwhich Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump disparaged last week. Prime Minister Boris Johnson replied: “I would expect that to be the case, but I haven’t set out that part of the agenda yet.”
Democrats quickly pounced on the Republican chair’s comments, warning that they showed how it would be done. Johnson and Trump pursue Aggressive conservative policies that seek to dismantle even popular government programs. The White House credits the CHIPS Act with spurring hundreds of billions of dollars in investment and hundreds of thousands of jobs. vice president kamala harris pointed to the bill being campaigned for as evidence that Democrats can be in charge of the U.S. economy.
Prime Minister Johnson, who voted against the bill, later said in a statement that the CHIPS Act, which pumped $54 billion into the semiconductor manufacturing industry, was “not on the agenda for repeal.”
“On the contrary, legislation could be enacted to further streamline and improve upon the bill’s primary purpose of eliminating costly regulations and Green New Deal requirements,” the chair’s statement said.
This is not the first time Mr Johnson has had to recuse himself from speaking recently. He had to clean earlier this week. the comment he said He wanted to “hit the regulatory state” and make “massive” changes to the Affordable Care Act. After facing political backlash, he said repealing the health care law was “not on the table.”
The case comes at a time when Mr. Johnson has worked closely with Mr. Trump and at the same time campaigned for members of the House of Representatives, particularly those embroiled in tough re-election battles crucial to the Republican Party’s narrow majority. It symbolized his struggle. The speaker was campaigning for Congressman Brandon Williams, Republican of New York. Congressman Brandon Williams worked in the technology industry and supported the CHIPS Act before running for Congress.
Williams said in a statement that he spoke privately with Johnson after he suggested he might repeal the law.
“He said he misheard the question and apologized profusely,” Williams said.
A new large-scale Micron semiconductor manufacturing plant is expected to be built in the Williams area. The company announced it received a $6.1 billion grant from the CHIPS Act to support the plan.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in a statement Friday: “Those who threaten to repeal the CHIPS/Science Act will be responsible for over 50,000 high-paying jobs in upstate New York and $231 billion worth of economic damage nationwide.” It threatens growth.”
Democrats hope the comments will provide a late boost as they seek to reach out to working-class voters in areas dependent on factory jobs. Earlier this week, Harris toured another semiconductor factory during a campaign stop in Saginaw, Michigan, to draw attention to the 2022 law.
In response to Johnson’s comments on Friday, Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said: “Harris is committed to bringing manufacturing jobs back to America and making America globally competitive. “This is the only way to ensure that Republicans never have a chance to repeal these bills.” The legislation that creates jobs and saves Americans money is to elect her president. ”
As of August, CHIPS and the Science Act had provided $30 billion in support to 23 projects in 15 states that would add 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, according to the Department of Commerce. That’s what it means. The funding will help draw in private capital, allowing the U.S. to produce 30% of the world’s most advanced computer chips, up from 0% when the Biden-Harris administration took over under President Trump. It became.
Beto Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said, “Most politicians typically go into communities promising to create jobs in the towns they visit…Mike Johnson, always a trendsetter, , decided to visit a town and promise to kill jobs.” In that town. ”
