HR 4346 Vote Delayed in Senate – CHIPS Act

Yesterday, the Senate delayed the scheduled cloture vote on HR 4346, the vehicle for the CHIPS Act. A report on theHill.com notes that East Coast weather problems were making it difficult to get Senators into town in time enough for the scheduled vote, so the Leadership decided to postpone the vote until today. The current schedule calls for the cloture vote at 11:00 am EDT.

Interestingly, there were 23 amendments proposed yesterday to this bill, more than had been submitted since the bill considerations began last week. One of those amendments, SA 5181 is a re-write of 43 pages of the substitute language being considered. This rewrite does not affect any of the cybersecurity provisions that I discussed in article at CFSN Detailed Analysis (subscription required).

Proposed amendments by Sen Paul (R,TN; SA 5159) and Sen Lee (R,UT; SA 5162, SA 5164, SA 5168, SA5179, and SA 5180) indicate that there may be attempts made to force votes on these unassociated amendments. Paul and Lee are unlikely to vote for the bill, so they have little leverage in this case, but they are both well known for their legislative maneuvering. This could drag out the final vote on the bill, further delaying House action.