House Speaker Johnson says Republicans could try to repeal the CHIPS law, then takes it back

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that Republicans will “likely” try to repeal laws that have boosted U.S. production of semiconductor chips, a statement he quickly tried to walk back by saying he would Instead, like to “rationalize”.

Johnson made the first comments while campaigning for a vulnerable New York GOP congressman in a district awaiting a major new semiconductor factory from Micron.

A reporter asked Johnson whether he would try to repeal the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump disparaged last week. “I expect we probably will, but we haven't developed that part of the agenda yet,” Johnson replied.

Democrats quickly responded to the Republican speaker's comments, warning they showed Johnson and Trump were pursuing an aggressive conservative agenda aimed at dismantling even popular government programs. The White House has credited the CHIPS Act with spurring hundreds of billions of dollars in investment as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs. Vice President Kamala Harris described the legislation during the election campaign as proof that Democrats can be trusted with the US economy.

Johnson, who voted against the bill, later said in a statement that the CHIPS Act, which funneled $54 billion into the semiconductor industry, “is not on the agenda for repeal.”

“On the contrary, there could be legislation to further streamline and improve the bill’s primary purpose – eliminating its costly regulations and Green New Deal requirements,” the speaker’s statement said.

It wasn't the first comment Johnson had to take back recently. Earlier this week, he had to clean up his comments in which he said he wanted to “take a blowtorch attack on the regulatory state” and make “massive” changes to the Affordable Care Act. After suffering a political setback, he said repealing the health care law was “not on the table.”

The incident was emblematic of Johnson's struggle to work closely with Trump while standing up for his colleagues in the House, particularly those engaged in tough re-election battles that are crucial to the narrow Republican majority. The speaker campaigned for Rep. Brandon Williams, a New York Republican who worked in the tech industry before running for Congress, and supported the CHIPS Act.

Williams said in a statement that he spoke privately with Johnson after he suggested repealing the law.

“He apologized profusely and said he misunderstood the question,” Williams said.

Williams County is expecting a major new semiconductor manufacturing facility from Micron. The company said it received $6.1 billion in CHIPS Act grants to support its plans.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement Friday: “Anyone who threatens to repeal the CHIPS & Science Act puts more than 50,000 good-paying jobs in New York State and statewide economic growth at risk of $231 billion.”

Democrats hope the comments will give them a boost as they try to woo working-class voters in regions that rely on factory jobs. Harris toured another semiconductor factory during a campaign stop in Saginaw, Michigan, earlier this week to raise awareness of the 2022 law.

In response to Johnson's comments on Friday, Harris' campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said: “Harris is running to bring manufacturing jobs back to America and make us globally competitive. The only way we can guarantee that these Republicans never get the chance to repeal these laws that create jobs and save Americans money is to elect their president.”

As of August, the CHIPS and Science Act had provided $30 billion to support 23 projects in 15 states that would create 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, according to the Commerce Department. This funding helped attract private capital and would allow the United States to produce 30% of the world's most advanced computer chips, up from 0% when the Biden-Harris administration took over from Trump.

Viet Shelton, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said: “Most politicians usually go into a community and promise to create jobs in the city they are visiting…Mike Johnson, always the trendsetter, decided to visit a city and to promise to destroy jobs” in this city.