WASHINGTON — Republicans seek to “streamline” a law subsidizing American chip manufacturing, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, as he backtracked from saying they “probably will” try to repeal the program that’s generated $400 billion in promised company investments.

Johnson was responding to a question about his stance on the 2022 Chips and Science Act, after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump last week called the program “so bad.” Asked whether he’d seek to repeal the law if Republicans took control of Congress and the White House, Johnson told reporters during a campaign stop in upstate New York on Friday that “I expect that we probably will, but we haven’t developed that part of the agenda yet.”

Johnson, who voted against the Chips Act, quickly walked back his remarks and said the law is “not on the agenda for repeal.” Instead, Republicans could pursue legislation to “eliminate its costly regulations and Green New Deal requirements,” he said in a statement circulated by Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., a vulnerable Republican candidate with whom he was campaigning.

The Chips Act set aside $39 billion in grants — plus 25% tax credits and billions more in loans — to revitalize American semiconductor manufacturing after decades of production shifting to Asia. Companies have pledged to invest more than 10 times that in US factories, including new plants from all five of the world’s top advanced chipmakers. Micron Corp., the lone American maker of advanced memory chips, plans to spend at least $50 billion to build factories in Williams’ district.

The law, which passed with bipartisan support, aims to address the national security risk created by the concentration of advanced chip manufacturing in Asia, and particularly in Taiwan. It’s generating thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs in Arizona, Texas, New York, Ohio and other states where companies are building semiconductor plants and smaller supply-chain facilities.

Democrats slammed Johnson for threatening both of those priorities.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., thanked the speaker for “his honesty and his forthrightness” about what Republicans would do with a House majority. Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters Saturday that Johnson backtracked on a Chips Act repeal because it’s “not popular, and their agenda is not popular.”

“It is my plan and intention to continue to invest in American manufacturing, the work being done by American workers upholding and lifting up good union jobs,” the Democratic presidential nominee said in Milwaukee. “That is the way we are going to win the competition with China for the 21st century, and that is the kind of leadership that America deserves in their president.”

Williams, who in 2022 called the Chips Act “corporate welfare,” told reporters during the Friday campaign stop that he’d remind Johnson “night and day how important the Chips Act is.”

He issued a statement that Johnson “apologized profusely” for his comments about a repeal, saying the speaker had “misheard the question.” Both went on to talk about reforming the law, citing its importance to national security. In particular, Williams and Johnson have discussed streamlining environmental reviews, a person familiar with the Williams campaign said.

Some federally supported chip factories are already exempt from some permitting requirements under a bipartisan law President Joe Biden signed in October. Whether Micron’s New York facility qualifies for that carve-out is an open question because construction hasn’t started yet.

Even absent a repeal, Republicans could significantly change how the law is implemented.

While Biden administration officials have allocated more than 90% of the grant funding, they’ve only finalized one of those awards. The other 20 proposed awards remain preliminary, subject to due diligence before companies and officials reach binding agreements — which, if negotiations drag into next year, could be decided under the next president.

That includes incentives for Micron, Intel Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., all of which have emphasized that their investments are contingent on federal support.

Trump said last month that “we didn’t have to give them the money to build a plant,” telling podcaster Joe Rogan the U.S. could have imposed tariffs “so high that they will come and build their chip companies for nothing.”

He also repeated his claim that Taiwan “stole” the U.S. chip industry, setting off alarm bells for TSMC, which plans to invest more than $65 billion in chip factories in Arizona — a project announced under Trump.

Biden said later Saturday that Trump wants to get rid of the Chips Act. “I worked like hell to get that done,” he said at a union hall in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who has grown frustrated with the pace of negotiations as his company faces daunting financial challenges, said Thursday he remains confident the subsidy initiative will proceed regardless of who wins the Nov. 5 election. But in a New York Times interview published the week prior, he also said the election adds urgency.

“Obviously, with elections, you know, nigh in front of us, hey, we want this done,” he said.

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(With assistance from Akayla Gardner, Billy House and Josh Wingrove.)

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