House Speaker Mike Johnson walked back comments critical of the CHIPS and Science Act during a stop in upstate New York Friday, miles from where Micron plans to use billions from that law to fuel up to 9,000 jobs.

The question posed to Johnson, who was in Syracuse to rally with Republican Rep. Brandon Williams in his reelection bid in New York’s 22nd Congressional District, came after former President Donald Trump recently criticized the bill last week during a podcast interview.

Memory chip specialist Micron credited the CHIPS Act, passed in 2022, in part for its decision to invest billions of dollars in Central New York over the next 20 years and build a chip manufacturing facility in the town of Clay.

“That chip deal is so bad,” Trump said Sunday on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “We put up billions of dollars for rich companies.”

When first asked if Congress would try to repeal the legislation if Trump reclaims the presidency and Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives, Johnson told reporters in Friday, “I expect that we probably will, but we haven’t developed that part of the agenda yet.”

Williams, whose district includes where the Micron megafab will be built, was quick to deny that he would favor any direct repeal of the bill.

“Obviously, the CHIPS Act is hugely impactful here, and my job is to keep lobbying on my side,” Williams said. “That’s why I’ve crossed the aisle and supported many things, you know, against leadership, but that’s our partnership, that’s how we’re gonna get through this… be reelected. I will remind you night and day how important the CHIPS Act is and that we break ground on Micron.”

Williams said Trump’s comments about the CHIPS Act are in regard to the agenda in the legislation beyond semiconductor chip manufacturing.

“I would call for reform. Let’s take on the national security issues of repatriating chip manufacturing in the United States, but let’s get away from the Green New Deal trough,” Williams said.

The 2022 law came with subsidies for companies to incentivize them to invest in the U.S., which is common in this practice, but is often criticized as giving away millions, if not billions of taxpayer dollars to wealthy companies.

The CHIPS and Science Act was supported by prominent Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Williams’ House predecessor, former Republican Rep. John Katko, supported it. As a candidate at the time, Williams in a letter to the editor in the Auburn Citizen called the CHIPS Act a “modest $50 billion corporate welfare package for the profitable chip industry” before the Micron deal was announced.

In Syracuse, Johnson appeared to walk back talk of a direct repeal, saying his conference supports the onshoring of semiconductor chips to the U.S. for economic growth and national security purposes.

“We want to do that. You’ll have 100% agreement by President Trump and all the Republicans in Congress,” Johnson said. “What we were opposed to in that bill is that it had too much crammed into it and you had the Green New Deal stuff, to Brandon’s point.”

Neither Johnson nor Williams specified what they labeled as “Green New Deal” additives in the CHIPS Act.

Williams and Johnson also used the topic as an opportunity to discuss their goal of regulatory reform.

“We would already be breaking ground on Micron if it weren’t for the regulatory overhead, particularly here in New York state,” Williams said, saying similar projects in other states are progressing quicker.

Johnson argued the Micron project is a reason to keep Williams in Congress, and made no light that the district is one of the most competitive in the country, saying “New York’s 22nd Congressional District decides the fate of the republic.”

“People listen to Brandon Williams. If [Micron] is an important thing for your district, you need this guy here,” he said.

Williams’ opponent in the district is Democratic state Sen. John Mannion, who in a statement Friday evening said, in part, that Johnson and Williams are “extremists who want to repeal the law that is bringing billions of dollars and tens of thousands of good paying jobs to Central New York and the Mohawk Valley.”

Williams sent a release Friday evening in what appeared to be an effort to clarify the words spoken at the event, saying, “I spoke privately with the Speaker immediately after the event. He apologized profusely, saying he misheard the question. He clarified his comments on the spot and I trust local media to play his full comments on supporting repatriation of chips manufacturing to America.”

In that release, Johnson in a statement said, in part, “I fully support Micron coming to Central NY, and the CHIPS Act is not on the agenda for repeal.”