ARLINGTON, VA – Today, Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Department of Commerce and the National Institute of Standards and Technology seeking records regarding their decision to administratively add onerous and counterproductive requirements to the CHIPS Act, including restrictions and mandates specifically rejected by Congress.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo reportedly told her staff last year: “If Congress wasn’t going to do what they should have done [to expand subsidized child care], we’re going to do it in implementation.”
The stated goal of the CHIPS Act was to increase domestic semiconductor production to protect economic and national security. But instead of making it easier and less expensive to build, the Department of Commerce piled on extra costs including Buy America provisions, mandated daycare, and NEPA compliance, all of which will make it more difficult to onshore chip production.
Click here and here to view the FOIA requests.
AFPF Director of Investigations Kevin Schmidt issued the following statement:
These actions highlight the folly of national industrial policy and central planning. The CHIPS Act provided billions in unfair corporate welfare to companies that were already planning to increase capacity in the United States. Now the Department of Commerce is improperly using the law to impose progressive policy priorities Congress considered and rejected. Commerce’s actions undermine the purpose of the law. The clearest path to competitiveness is to lower government-created barriers like NEPA and other permitting regulations that drown projects in endless delays and litigation.
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