Republican senators said they’re willing to work with Trump to make some changes to the program, but they argued the money allocated to bolster microchip production in the United States is critical to national security.
They also point out the money has already been spent and there simply wouldn’t be the votes to repeal a law that passed the Senate and House with strong bipartisan majorities.
Democrats touted the law as one of the biggest legislative successes of the Biden administration, but it also received the backing of more than a dozen Senate Republicans and 24 GOP House members.
“I think reconstituting domestic manufacturing of advanced semiconductors is a national security and economic imperative,” said Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), who was one of 17 Senate Republicans who voted for the law.
Cornyn noted that “the whole purpose of this was national security.”
“Because if there’s a disruption between Asia or Taiwan, to be more specific, and the United States, we would plunge into a depression and we wouldn’t be able to build advanced weapons or aircraft like the F-35,” he said.
Trump called the CHIPS Act “horrible” and urged lawmakers to scrap it when he spoke to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.
“Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t mean a thing. They take our money and they don’t spend it,” Trump said in a speech to Congress.
“You should get rid of the CHIPS Act and whatever is left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt,” the president added.
Read more in a full report from The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.
Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
President Trump on Thursday suggested he would consider extending the deadline for a ban on TikTok for a second time if a deal isn’t reached, stating there is “a lot of interest” in the video-sharing platform. When asked by a reporter if he plans to extend the TikTok ban deadline if a deal is not hammered out in time, Trump said, “Probably, yeah.” “We have a lot of interest in TikTok. China …
Utah passed a bill on Wednesday that will require app stores to verify users’ ages and receive parental consent for minors to download applications, making the Beehive State the first in the country to pass such a measure. The bill, titled the App Store Accountability Act, now heads to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R)’s desk. If signed, the majority of the bill’s stipulations would take effect May 7. “I am …
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried talked to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson about life in prison in an interview posted Thursday to the social platform X. “It’s sort of dystopian,” Bankman-Fried told Carlson on “The Tucker Carlson Show.” “You know, the fortunate thing, the place I’m in, I’m not in … I’m not in physical danger.” “And, you know, frankly, a lot of the staff, they’re trying to be helpful,” …
Democratic senators are asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether tech billionaire Elon Musk, a senior adviser to President Trump, is leveraging his government position to pressure advertisers into spending more on his social media platform, X. In a letter dated Wednesday to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the five senators pointed to recent reporting indicating that, in 2024, as Musk was preparing to take on …
The crypto industry has long complained of debanking — the closure of accounts that banks consider risky, often with little notice or explanation — arguing it is often unfairly targeted.
Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on Thursday offered up a potential solution.
The Financial Integrity and Regulation Management Act seeks to tackle debanking by removing references to reputational risk for evaluating the safety and soundness of depository institutions, like banks.
Scott and his fellow Republicans on the Senate Banking panel who joined the legislation argue reputational risk has been used by regulators to target particular industries.
“It’s clear that federal regulators have abused reputational risk by carrying out a political agenda against federally legal businesses,” Scott said in a statement.
“This legislation, which eliminates all references to reputational risk in regulatory supervision, is the first step in ending debanking once and for all,” he continued.
The bill earned praise from Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith, who argued “companies and individuals in digital assets have endured targeted debanking for too long.”
Crypto Corner is a new feature in The Hill’s Technology newsletter focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
The Refresh
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Trump administration looking to review all prospective citizens‘ social media accounts (The Verge)
State Department to use AI to revoke visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas, other designated terror groups (Axios)
In Other News
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
House Judiciary panel subpoenas Google, YouTube parent company
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday subpoenaed Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, demanding the tech giant turn over its communications with the executive branch. The panel also requested that Alphabet hand over internal communications about its interactions with the previous administration and third parties working with the executive branch. “The Committee’s oversight has …
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) slammed President Trump for his launch of a meme coin in January, suggesting it might be the “biggest White House corruption in a century.” In a video posted to social platform X on Thursday, Murphy said, “This is a pure grift,” while showing graphics of an official advertisement promoting the meme coin. “Trump launches this coin right before the inauguration. Why? Because …
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he believes transgender athletes participating in girls’ and women’s sports is “deeply unfair,” breaking with … Read more
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