House passes $280B bill to bolster domestic chip production

The House on Thursday passed legislation intended to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing and "invest billions in science and technology innovation," with the goal of boosting the United States' competitiveness with China, The Washington Post reports.

The $280 billion bill, known as the Chips and Science Act, passed in a bipartisan, 243-187 vote, after clearing the Senate 64-33 one day prior. It now heads to President Biden's desk.

The Chips Act is "exactly what we need to be doing to grow our economy right now," Biden said in a statement after the vote, per CNBC. "I look forward to signing this bill into law."

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The legislation's advancement notably arrives after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday announced they had finally reached a deal on some variation of the party's flagship spending package, against which Manchin was the lone holdout.

But once news of Schumer and Manchin's deal broke, GOP leadership attempted a last-minute push to block the semiconductor bill, urging members to vote no as retribution, the Post reports. Ultimately, 24 Republicans still backed the legislation.