Schumer Plans Tuesday Vote to Begin Advancing Smaller Chips Bill

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is telling senators to expect a floor vote as early as Tuesday to start moving a smaller chips package that would include, at a minimum, emergency chips funding and an investment tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing (see 2207130053), a source familiar with discussions told us Thursday.

That includes $52 billion in subsidies to encourage U.S.-based manufacturing and the investment tax credit from S-2107, the Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors (FABS) Act. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va.; Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., expressed optimism that other elements of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) (S-1260) can be included. Cantwell told reporters Senate leadership has been in discussion with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Pelosi and Hoyer said Wednesday the House won’t take up the original Senate version because they want to pass valuable elements included in the House package.

Asked if Pelosi and Hoyer are on board with Schumer’s plan, Cantwell said, “I don’t know if on board is the right word, but I think there’s been conversations with people.” She said there have been signals Pelosi’s camp is ok with moving forward on the smaller package. “So now the question is what’s that smaller package,” said Cantwell.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that if this is made our bipartisan, bicameral objective, if the White House is behind this, this could be accomplished in the next couple of weeks,” said Young. He told reporters he’s “comfortable” with Schumer’s approach but stopped short of saying he would vote yes Tuesday: “There’s a lot of information floating around.” Congress was “very close” to a final agreement on USICA, and a number of issues were days and even hours away from being “completely closed out,” he said: There’s lots of bipartisan support behind advancing the commerce title, which includes R&D funding for hypersonics, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems focused on national security. The total package could be in the $200 billion range, depending on what’s included Tuesday, he said: “We’ll advance chips because of the national security and economic urgency of it. We should also advance those things on which there was already agreement or on the cusp of being agreed, which have national security implications.”

Warner expressed optimism about including USICA’s 5G and open radio access network elements. “Whatever else can be added on that’s already been agreed to I think is more up to our Republican colleagues," he said. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., "has said the skinny will go. ... I really think it needs to be next week.” A lot of the commerce title is “close,” Warner said: The question becomes at what point do the additions tip McConnell and Republicans over to saying, “That’s too much. ... Until last week, I think people thought they were days away from closing out” agreement.

“I think it’s really important that we pass the Chips Act but not next week,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told us. “Sen. Schumer wants to jam it and then use a couple weeks of floor time to try to pass a reconciliation bill, which we’re not for. Presumably if he had the votes to do it, he would have already done it. And I don’t think he has the votes now. We’re simply not going to make it easier for him to pass a partisan spending bill in the remaining few weeks in the work period.” Cornyn told reporters he would support passing the Fabs Act, ORAN and 5G provisions, plus some “uncontroversial” Senate Commerce Committee provisions.