Vice President Kamala Harris hit back at Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Saturday for comments that Republicans could try to repeal CHIPS and the Science Act if they take control of Congress in the upcoming elections.
“I also want to speak to the recent comments made by the speaker of the House,” Harris told reporters in Milwaukee. “This is further proof of everything I’ve been talking about for months [former President Donald] Trump’s intention to implement the 2025 project”.
“We’ve talked over and over — and the American people know what it is — we’ve talked over and over about their intention to get rid of the flu. Affordable Care Act. Now to get rid of the CHIPS Act,” Harris added.
His comments came after Johnson’s politically sensitive New York Rep. Brandon Williams, RN.Y. came a day after his controversial comment at the event. Asked if Republicans would try to repeal the CHIPS Act if they win the election, Johnson said, “I expect we probably will.” according to the released video by a local journalist.
Johnson’s statement led to an awkward exchange that Williams stood by and disagreed with. “The CHIPS Act is very effective here,” Williams said, vowing to “remind” Johnson “day and night” about the law’s importance.
Johnson praised Williams and responded, “If this is something important to your district, you need this guy there to do it.”
Not long after, when the clip began to circulate, Johnson walked back his comments, saying, “As I have explained and clarified, I fully support Micron coming to Central New York and the CHIPS Act is not on the agenda. to cancel. Rather, it could be legislation to further simplify and improve the bill’s main objective – to remove its costly regulations and Green New Deal requirements.
In a statement, Williams said she spoke with Johnson after the incident, and the speaker “profusely apologized, saying she misheard the question.”
Later at a press conference on Saturday, Harris continued to criticize Johnson and Republicans, saying the speaker backed off his comment because it was unpopular and their agenda was unpopular.
“And so people are showing up by the thousands, tens of thousands, to talk about an agenda that’s actually aimed at lifting them up,” the vice president said.
He was not the first Democrat to attack Johnson for what he said.
“Wow – Mike Johnson confirms that he and Trump will repeal the CHIPS law that invests in new plants and manufacturing in PA, MI, NC, GA, AZ, creating thousands of jobs,” said Harris spokesman Ian Sams Posted in X on friday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also He wrote in X“The Republican speaker of the House just told the tens of thousands of construction workers building New York and America’s future that he wants to send them pink slips ASAP.”
Jacob Peters, a spokesman for Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, also criticized Johnson. Type in X“He didn’t get anything wrong. His only mistake was honesty.”
The CHIPS Act passed Congress on a bipartisan basis and was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022.
It provided $280 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors and chips. It also provided funding for other science, technology and engineering programs.
According to the Commerce Department, the CHIPS and Science Act spent $53 billion on semiconductors; 30 billion dollars investment in the private sector covering 23 projects and 15 countries; 16 new semiconductor plants and about 115,000 new manufacturing and construction jobs by the end of 2024.