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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Thursday threatened GOP support for the domestic semiconductor industry bill if Democrats move forward with a separate reconciliation package.
“Let me be
perfectly clear: there will be no bipartisan USICA as long as Democrats are
pursuing a partisan reconciliation bill,” McConnell tweeted on Thursday
afternoon, referring to the Senate-passed version of the semiconductor bill
called the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), according to
The Hill.
In a
statement the White House accused McConnell of “holding hostage” legislation
designed to make the U.S. more competitive against China by investing in the
chip industry. The legislation covers about $50 billion for the semiconductor
industry in the U.S.
The Biden
administration has been pushing for the bill to make the U.S. more competitive
against China while helping to ease supply chain problems through investment.
Democrats
had earlier announced that they are working on revised plans for a package that
aim to pass the bill with only Democratic votes in the Senate through a process
known as budget reconciliation, according to The Hill.
Mr Biden has
proposed multi spending domestic policy programns which Republicans argue could
contribute to already rising inflation.
“Senate
Republicans are literally choosing to help China out compete the U.S. in order
to protect big drug companies,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
said in the statement responding to McConnell’s tweet, according to The Hill.
“This takes loyalty to special interests over working Americans to a new and
shocking height. We are not going to
back down in the face of this outrageous threat.”