House passes $280B bill to bolster domestic chip production

(Image credit: Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.