President will meet group from both houses ahead of expected executive order over chip shortage
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10.22am GMT
The main item on the agenda for the Biden administration today is the economy – and fears that a global chip shortage is holding back US manufacturing, which is already suffering from the year-long impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It has been described as “a dangerous weak spot in our economy and in our national security” by Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. Overnight the Washington Post reported that:
As part of the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2021, Congress authorized federal subsidies for companies investing in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and more federal funding for chip research, but Congress has yet to appropriate money for the programs.
Schumer on Wednesday said he and a bipartisan group of colleagues would include those appropriations in a bill they plan to introduce soon. Dubbed the Endless Frontier Act, the bill will also devote resources for 5G mobile networks and for research priorities such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, Schumer said.
10.16am GMT
Welcome to our live coverage of US politics for Wednesday. Here’s a catch-up on what’s happening, and what we have in the diary for today…
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