House passes China competition bill, sends it to President Biden’s desk

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The House of Representatives Thursday passed a $280 billion bill aimed at increasing competition with China, sending it to President Biden’s desk after more than a year of congressional negotiations.

The bill passed 243-187 despite a last-second effort to stop it by House Republicans. In the wake of a climate change, health care and tax hike deal Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced Wednesday, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., told members in an official notice late Wednesday GOP leadership recommended a “no” vote on the bill.

Senate Republicans previously said they wouldn’t allow the China bill, known as the CHIPS Act of 2022, to pass as long as Democrats were working on reconciliation. It appeared Manchin and Schumer abandoned that effort in recent weeks – but they announced an agreement just hours after the Senate passed the China bill.

“This legislation comes to the House precisely as Senate Democrats have allegedly struck a deal on their partisan reconciliation bill, pairing up a tone-deaf agenda that on one hand gives billions away in corporate handouts, and on the other hand undoes historic tax cuts implemented by Republicans,” Scalise said.

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But Democrats managed to keep enough of their members on board with the bill to pass it on to President Biden’s desk.

“The Senate made the bipartisan decision as a nation to invest in America’s manufacturing technology of semiconductors and additional funding for basic research and development in the cutting edge industries of the 21st century,” Biden said Thursday.

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“It has the added benefit of creating tens of thousands of good paying… jobs, lowering inflation, giving us the ability not only to compete with China for the future, but to lead the world and win the economic competition of the 21st century,” Biden added.

Fox News’ Jason Donner, Kristina Biddle and Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.