Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Credit: Shutterstock / Christopher Halloran

Well, well, well. Looks like U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, may show signs of a spine after all.

Cornyn this week took a stand against President Donald Trump’s plans to abolish the Biden-era CHIPS and Sciences Act. In an interview with The Hill, Cornyn — usually a card-carrying member of the president’s Brown Nose Club — defended the program, which has disbursed $52 billion in subsidies to bolster the domestic semiconductor industry.

During his joint address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump blasted the CHIPS Act and called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to kill it off as soon as possible.

“You should get rid of the CHIPS Act,” Trump said, before addressing Johnson directly. “And whatever is left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt. Or any other reason you want to.”

As some GOP members have learned, it’s unwise to speak out against Dear Leader Trump if you still want to have a political career within the party.

However, Cornyn, in a rare act of defiance, told The Hill that Trump’s plans to eliminate the CHIPS Act are, well, pretty stupid.

“The whole purpose of this was national security,” Cornyn said. “If there’s a disruption between Asia or Taiwan, to be more specific, and the United States, we would plunge into a depression and we wouldn’t be able to build advanced weapons or aircraft like the F-35.”

Indeed, part of the reason 17 Republican Senators joined the Biden-backed push to pass the CHIPS Act was to ensure U.S. has a readily available supply of advanced semiconductor chips if China invades Taiwan.

Taiwan — of which China has long controversially claimed ownership — produces 60% of the world’s semiconductors and more than 90% of advanced chips used in computers, cars and advanced military equipment. What’s more, the CHIPS Act has created more than 15,000 high-paying jobs and $4.7 billion in investment in Texas since Biden signed it into law.

Cornyn’s willingness to push back at Trump comes at a precarious time. The 73-year-old senator is set to run for a fifth term in 2026, and he may already have a primary challenger who’s squarely in the president’s corner.

Texas Attorney General and MAGA devotee Ken Paxton has already teased that he’s considering a run for a Senate seat. With Paxton rocking with a 60% approval rating among Republicans, compared to Cornyn’s 48%, the challenger could draw and Trump endorsement no matter what Cornyn says or does.

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This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...