GOP senators urge Biden admin to 'immediately' end 'racist' policy in CHIPS grant approval: 'Anti-American'

EXCLUSIVE: Republican senators are urging the Biden administration to immediately reverse what they call a "racist" and "anti-American" policy for distributing CHIPS Act grants before it violates the law.

The top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, Ranking Member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and members Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo, penned a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the agency’s guidance stating it would consider the race of an applicant’s suppliers when awarding CHIPS Act funding.

The senators say that policy is a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, Title IV, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

The guidance requires applicants to document "how the applicant intends to address the inclusion of … minority-owned business … through a supplier diversity plan" with "measurable targets," including how much money it plans to spend on "minority-owned" suppliers by 2030.

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The guidance also explains that the Commerce Department will consider an applicant’s diversity plan as part of the merit review process and access that plan based on the applicant’s strategy for engaging with minority-owned businesses and "commitment to tracking and disclosing disaggregated data on supplier diversity and contractor/subcontractor diversity."

Cruz told Fox News Digital the Biden administration’s decision to "dole out CHIPS funding based on the skin color of an applicant’s supply chain is racist and anti-American."

"I’m calling on the Commerce Department to immediately rescind its unconstitutional policy," Cruz said. "If it fails to do so, it will