President Donald Trump’s call to “get rid” of the CHIPS and Science Act this week surprised lawmakers and set K Street on edge.
But the suggestion hasn’t really gained traction on Capitol Hill.
Republicans seem reluctant to press the issue and several lobbyists were reluctant to discuss it — though some said they have checked in with longstanding supporters of the bipartisan law, “reminding them of their vote,” as Rich Gold, a partner at the lobbying firm Holland & Knight told NOTUS.
“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 his Tuesday evening address to a joint session of Congress. “You should get rid of the CHIPS Act and whatever is left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt. Or any other reason you want to.”
Trump on Monday touted a $100 billion in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, bringing its total investment to around $165 billion.
Marne Marotta, a managing director at Arnold & Porter who has lobbied on CHIPS Act implementation for clients including Samsung Electronics America, said the president’s comments during his joint address were “a little confusing” since TSMC previously received a “huge award” to incentivize investment.
This isn’t the first time Trump has taken a swipe at the bill. But Trump’s comments haven’t swayed Republicans, who have largely lined up to back other facets of the president’s agenda — including controversial cabinet nominees.
Sen. Todd Young, one of the chief champions of the CHIPS and Science Act, argued that the public funds have unlocked substantial private sector investment. The law has provided tens of billions of dollars to boost domestic semiconductor production since its passage in 2022.
“That is something my political adversaries would be envious of, so I look forward to improving the programs,” Young said.
Sen. Thom Tillis said that while he was open to some changes, most of the bill’s $52 billion has already been allocated. He also warned that eliminating the advanced manufacturing investment tax credit — equal to 25 percent of investment in buildings, facilities and recruitment vital to the manufacturing process — could have a “chilling effect” on business.
“You can have a reasonable ramp down, but you just can’t cold turkey,” Tillis said. “To business, it’s unfair, it creates uncertainty and they’ll go find another jurisdiction to set up shop.”
When asked about Trump’s comment, Rep. Tom Cole, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, told NOTUS, “I haven’t heard what he had to say. And really, it doesn’t matter what happened last Congress.” Cole attended the joint address, according to his office.
Cole was one of 24 Republicans who voted with Democrats to pass the bill in 2022, calling it at the time “a step in the right direction.” Seventeen Republicans — including Young and Tillis — joined their Democratic colleagues in the Senate in voting for the bill.
“There doesn’t seem to be a groundswell on Capitol Hill right now on that issue, but we do have our ears to the ground,” said Gold, who is registered to lobby on semiconductor manufacturing and CHIPS Act funding for Intel. Last fall, the chipmaker finalized a nearly $8 billion award with the Biden-Harris administration as it invests more than $100 billion.
Sen. John Cornyn, who voted for the bill, told NOTUS that domestic chip production was a critical issue of national security even though the success of the bill “remains to be seen.”
“We have a huge vulnerability, because we’ve outsourced advanced semiconductor manufacturing to other countries and they’re essential to our national security,” Cornyn said.
The United States is poised to grow chipmaking capacity by 203 percent between 2022 and 2032, faster than any other region, according to a May 2024 report by Boston Consulting Group and the Semiconductor Industry Association, which has represented the U.S. semiconductor industry since 1977.
The report also anticipated $2.3 trillion in private sector investment in the creation of semiconductor wafers between 2024 and 2032, compared to $700 billion between 2013 and 2022. The U.S. is projected to capture 28 percent of those total global expenditures, compared to 9 percent without the CHIPS and Science Act.
The Semiconductor Industry Association declined to comment on the president’s remarks.
“The CHIPS Act is just an example of how to encourage investment, and I would hope that the Trump administration takes a closer look at it and sees the potential that it has,” Marotta said.
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Taylor Giorno is a reporter at NOTUS.
John T. Seward and Katherine Swartz, NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows, and Haley Byrd Wilt, a reporter at NOTUS, contributed to this report.