A comment made by House Speaker Mike Johnson while campaigning in upstate New York is giving Democrats last-minute fodder for their final push to win control of the U.S. House.
After rallying in a Syracuse-area battleground congressional district Friday, Johnson told reporters that Republicans could try to repeal the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act if their party controls the levers of power in Washington after Tuesday's election.
“I expect that we probably will, but we haven’t developed that part of the agenda yet,” he said.
The Syracuse region is poised to see an economic jolt from the CHIPS and Science Act. The legislation helped pave the way for the semiconductor company Micron to announce plans to invest up to $100 billion in the region over the next decade and create thousands of jobs.
Shortly afterward, Johnson tried to walk back his comment, saying in a statement that Republicans do not plan to repeal the CHIPS law, but could look to reform and “improve” it. And the Syracuse-area Republican congressman Johnson was in town to support, Brandon Williams, released a statement saying Johnson “misheard” the question.
Williams, for his part, said he would not vote to repeal it, noting it is “hugely impactful here.”
Democrats were quick to dismiss the notion that Johnson misheard the question.
Democrat John Mannion, an advocate of the CHIPS law who is running to unseat Williams in the 22nd Congressional District, said, “What you saw was a shift after the truth came out.”
“The thing that is going to derail [the Micron project] is having the wrong person as the Speaker of the House and the wrong person in the White House,” he said.
Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who would replace Johnson as speaker if Democrats win control of the chamber, pledged during his own campaign stop in Syracuse Saturday that his party would protect the semiconductor law.
He accused former President Donald Trump, Williams and the “extreme MAGA Republican majority” in the U.S. House of not understanding Central New York. “The CHIPS and Science Act is critically important to the ongoing economic revival here in Central New York,” he said.
Johnson’s CHIPS comment comes days after he sought to clarify a remark about the Affordable Care Act.
Speaking in Pennsylvania Monday, the speaker vowed “massive reform” to health care.
Democrats pounced. The Kamala Harris campaign blasted out a clip. Jeffries alleged the Republican agenda involves “repealing and displacing people off the Affordable Care Act.”
Speaking in New York, Johnson told Spectrum News, “I never said we were touching the [Affordable Care Act] … What is on the bingo card is bringing common sense solutions to make health care better for the American people.”
Campaigning in New York
Both Johnson and Jeffries spent some of the final days before the Nov. 5 election crisscrossing New York, campaigning in competitive congressional races -- a sign of how critical the state could be in determining which party controls the U.S. House next year.
New York is all but a lock for Democrat Harris in the presidential race. But down ballot, it’s proving to be a key battleground. Districts on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley, plus the seat in Syracuse, are all in play.
Speaking in Syracuse Friday, Johnson said the fate of the race for the local congressional seat could “decide the fate of the republic.”
Two years ago, Republicans made extensive inroads in New York, flipping seats that helped them gain the House majority. Now Democrats are hoping to win those seats back.
In an exclusive interview with Spectrum News Saturday, Jeffries said he “is confident" Democrats will be able to hold onto the seats currently held by Reps. Tom Suozzi and Pat Ryan. He also expressed optimism his party will be able to "pick up a few more."
His chances of becoming speaker next term could depend on it.