Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) bipartisan bill to boost domestic manufacturing advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee is slated to be passed by the Senate.
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced Ernst and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester‘s (D-DE) Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act, a bill that seeks to increase drive investment and job creation by having Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick study critical goods that are being imported and find ways to help domestic producers manufacture them in rural areas and in industrial parks.
Ernst’s bill is set to be “hotlined,” or expedited through the Senate, and be passed through Congress’s upper chamber by unanimous consent.
The Hawkeye State conservative believes that the legislation would not only create jobs but also secure the country’s national security.
“I am thrilled to see my Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act closer to becoming law,” Ernst told Breitbart News in a written statement. “This is a major step in bringing supply chains home, boosting domestic manufacturing, and ending our reliance on foreign adversaries for critical goods. Finding ways for American businesses to source materials from right here — instead of halfway around the world — not only boosts our economic security but also our national security.”
The bill works in tandem with another Ernst bill, the Made in America Manufacturing Act (MAMFA), another bipartisan bill that would double the Small Business Administration (SBA) loan limit from $5 million to $10 million for small manufacturers “who need that capital to modernize, grow, and train the next generation of American workers.”
A third Ernst bill, the Mapping America’s Pharmaceutical Supply Act (MAPS) Act would work to secure the country’s medical supply chain; Breitbart News has extensively reported on America’s reliance on China for its medical supply chain.
Breitbart News reported in May:
Ernst has noted that manufacturing loans have already grown 74 percent since Trump’s inauguration and that doubling the loan limit would give small businesses the capital needed to invest in more equipment, hire more employees, and grow businesses. She also has noted that small manufacturers comprise 98 percent of manufacturing firms in the United States.
Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler said in prepared testimony about the need to boost American manufacturing, “supercharge the return of American manufacturing, empowering job creators with needed capital to onshore production and rebuild critical supply chains.”
She continued:
We are no longer supporting the globalists, bureaucrats, or partisan political interests – but the small defense manufacturers, the local construction companies, and the tech company founders putting everything on the line to live the American Dream.
Alongside President Trump, we’re empowering small businesses to lead America’s industrial comeback. Now, Congress has an opportunity to supercharge that comeback – with new capital that will make us stronger, more independent, and more resilient than ever before.
The Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act of 2025 sends a clear signal that this country is serious about rebuilding its manufacturing base, jobs, and supply chains.
She added, “It’s simple. It’s responsive. And it delivers exactly what job creators and lenders have been asking for.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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