CHIPS Act funding in question as House Speaker waffles on plan to repeal bill

UPDATED The US CHIPS and Science Act's future may depend on the outcome of Tuesday's Presidential Election after House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested the GOP would likely move to repeal the $280 billion funding bill if the party wins a majority in Congress.

"I expect that we probably will, but we haven't developed that part of the agenda yet. We've got to get over the election first," Johnson told local media last week in response to questions regarding whether the party would move to repeal the bill.

Johnson's comments reflect Donald Trump's recent statements during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in which the former president and Republican nominee condemned the CHIPS Act, calling it "so bad," and attacked Taiwan. "They stole our chip business," Trump said.

The speaker has since walked back the remarks, but not before his stance was undermined by Republican congressman Brandon Williams of New York, who said he would not support such an effort if brought to a vote.

"The CHIPS Act is hugely impactful here and my job is to keep lobbying on my side. That's why I've crossed the aisle and supported many things against leadership," the representative said. "Being reelected, I will remind him [Johnson] night and day how important the CHIPS Act is and that we get to break ground on Micron."

Signed into law in mid-2022, the US CHIPS and Science Act set aside roughly $53 billion in funding, including $39 billion in subsidies, to support the development of chip manufacturing plants in the US.

New York is one of several states set to benefit from the US CHIPS Act subsidies after the Commerce Department announced it had awarded Micron $6.1 billion in funding to construct massive memory fabs, including one in the state.

Micron previously committed to investing $100 billion over a 20-year period into the site set to be located in the heart of Williams' congressional district in the town of Clay, New York.

Shortly after Johnson expressed interest in repealing the bill, Williams's office issued a statement, softening the speaker's comments. "I spoke privately with the speaker immediately after the event. He apologized profusely, saying he misheard the question," Williams said.

In the statement obtained by The Register, Johnson said the CHIPS Act was "not on the agenda for repeal," and that "to the contrary, there could be legislation to further streamline and improve the primary purpose of the bill — to eliminate its costly regulations and Green New Deal requirements."

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris lambasted Johnson's comments. "We've talked repeatedly about their intention to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, now to get rid of the CHIPS Act?" Harris said during a recent press conference.

"It is my plan and intention to continue to invest in American manufacturing, the work being done by American workers upholding, and lifting up good union jobs which are good paying jobs," Harris added. "That is the way we are going to win the competition with China for the 21st century."

While the Commerce Department has already allocated $36 billion of the funding, with the lion's share going to Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and Micron to name a few, it's worth noting that the vast majority of these funds have yet to be disbursed.

Any disruption to the funding could have significant ramifications for Intel, TSMC, and Samsung, in particular, which have already begun construction on a number of fabs in Arizona, Texas, and Ohio in anticipation of being reimbursed.

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• Samsung blames 'one-off costs' as Q3 chip profits plummet 40%
• Uncle Sam extends 25% CHIPS Act tax credit to wafer, solar panel manufacturing

Semiconductor manufacturing isn't cheap, of course. Intel, for example, expects its two new Arizona chip fabs to cost $30 billion to complete, while it estimates the cost of its two plans in Ohio to run $28 billion.

TSMC and Samsung have made similarly large investments in their own facilities in Arizona and Texas.

The Register reached out to Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and Micron for comment on Johnson and Trump's positions regarding the CHIPS Act. TSMC declined to comment; we'll let you know if we hear from anyone else. ®

UPDATE: A Micron spokesperson told El Reg: "Micron is appreciative of the bipartisan support for the CHIPS and Science Act, a law that represents an important step toward solidifying American semiconductor and technology leadership for decades to come. Micron has always engaged and will continue to engage with all our government stakeholders, regardless of party affiliation, to advocate for the issues that matter most to Micron and the semiconductor industry."