| Once Senate leaders opened the door to moving on a China competitiveness bill over the weekend, a bipartisan group of senators knew exactly what it had to do: use the slimmed-down package as a shell to stuff in as many priorities as possible. Why it matters: The emerging legislation goes far beyond the narrow $52 billion bill to shore up domestic semiconductor manufacturing that even the Biden administration was willing to settle for this month, Axios' Alayna Treene reports. - After a week of maneuvering from Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), the new legislation more closely resembles the $250 billion bill the Senate passed last summer.
- "There were very, very few changes from what they had previously voted on," Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who also was involved, told Axios. "This really is what we passed out of the Senate."
Driving the news: The U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act (USICA) was on life support this month after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threatened to tank the bill if Democrats pursued a robust reconciliation package reviving President Biden's Build Back Better agenda. - But once Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) killed a big reconciliation bill, GOP leaders quietly walked back McConnell's threat.
- Sinema and Young swung into action and corralled a group of Senate Republicans and Democrats to load billions onto CHIPS-plus — while also managing to keep McConnell on board.
Between the lines: In the Senate, the nascent deal allows all sides to claim victory. - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has a big, beefy China bill heading for approval, along with a reconciliation package to lower prescription drug prices and shore up Obamacare health exchanges. That's two potential August wins before a November election.
- McConnell can claim he forced Democrats to abandon their spending ambitions on climate while giving the China bill — which the business community desperately wants and which he voted for — a second chance.
The big picture: Several senators told Axios they were spooked after a classified briefing with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and defense and intelligence officials on July 13 that detailed the national security risks of not acting. - "Everybody got a glimpse of what was at stake," Cantwell said.
Behind the scenes: At 6pm Monday night, Sinema and Young gathered members who care deeply about USICA — in addition to the majority of the 20 senators involved in passing the bipartisan infrastructure and gun safety bills — for a meeting in the Capitol's LBJ room. - The provisions getting cut were crucial to national security, they stressed.
- Young, after meeting alone with Senate Republicans, realized that some GOP senators' votes depended on making the bill bigger, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told Axios.
- "I'm not sure they would have had 60 votes for CHIPS only," they said. "There were a number of members who weren't really comfortable just moving forward with that on its own."
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