Democrats move to defend CHIPS following Trump’s calls for its removal

The future of the CHIPS and Science Act was caught in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs during his address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening, further exacerbating partisan disagreement over the law. 

Passed in 2022 and signed by then-President Joe Biden, the bill drew scores of Republican lawmakers on the House and Senate side to vote in favor alongside Democrats, who represented the majority of the pro-CHIPS votes. 

“[The] 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 his Tuesday evening speech, instead talking up the tariffs his administration implemented that day as a better incentive to draw semiconductor manufacturers to the U.S. “You should get rid of the CHIPS Act and whatever's left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt or any other reason you want to.”

The CHIPS and Science Act allocated $50 billion in federal funding for a variety of manufacturing initiatives in the U.S., primarily for semiconductor chips to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign-made products. It also offered agencies like the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy and the Government Accountability Office expanded roles in overseeing funding disbursements and research activities stipulated in the bill. 

Democrats quickly touted the benefits of the landmark legislation on Wednesday morning. During a House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee hearing, Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., criticized the bill's recent setbacks.

“CHIPS and Science bolstered our research agencies’ resources and catalyzed cross-governmental harmonization of research security policies,” Lofgren said. “Unfortunately, the progress will backslide due to recent decisions.”

She noted that the Trump administration’s probationary employee firings hindered the bill’s intended impact on the U.S. R&D landscape, particularly within the research security office established at the National Science Foundation. 

“This office was seriously impacted by the probationary firings and the resignations amidst the hostile environment Elon Musk and DOGE has created,” she said. “CHIPS and Science also mandated that NSF run the SECURE Center to support and empower research institutions to mitigate foreign interference. That Center lacks a permanent director, and NSF cannot hire one while the hiring freeze is in place.” 

Despite the restraining order California District Judge Willian Alsup placed on the Office of Personnel Management’s mandate that agencies get rid of probationary employees, Lofgren said that there are no guarantees that the office will run uninterrupted with planned reductions in force.

Fellow committee member Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, echoed Lofgren’s sentiments at the same hearing.

“Ohio’s 13th is home to a Tech Hub that received $51 million in CHIPS and Science investment to leverage Akron’s national leadership in polymer science,” Sykes said. “From sustainable tires to cutting-edge polymers, the next generation of rubber and plastics production will happen in my district. This opportunity was not created in a vacuum.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also released a statement Wednesday emphasizing that the bill was passed with “major bipartisan support.”

“We cannot continue to lose thousands of jobs and factories to Asia. CHIPS incentives are critical to closing the cost gap, so we can make microchips in the USA again and lead the world in technology,” he said. “CHIPS has already delivered $450 billion in new manufacturing investment that will create well over 100,000 new good-paying jobs. I do not think the president will find much support in Congress for undermining these CHIPS investments and the massive amount of jobs they are creating.”

Trump’s remarks on Tuesday evening weren’t the first time Republicans vocalized dissatisfaction with the CHIPS and Science Act’s rollout.

In April 2023, three House lawmakers — former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., along with Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va. — asked then-Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo for an itemized breakdown of where the money was going.

“The American people deserve a full, transparent, and regular accounting of the funds that have been spent, where the funds have gone and for what purpose, who has benefited and how much remains,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter. 

A Republican senator who was one of the main backers of the CHIPS and Science Act, Todd Young, R-Ind., signaled Wednesday that he will need more information on Trump’s stance regarding the law's future.

“We’re seeking clarity on those comments as they are not consistent with the extensive conversations we’ve had with the administration about the many successes and future of the CHIPS program and how it helps with our shared goal of creating a robust domestic chips supply,” a Young spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW.