How Bernie Sanders and conservatives united against US semiconductor bill

Vermont senator opposed corporate welfare' to firms paying huge salaries to executives - but Chips and Science Act passed Congress

When it comes to alliances in Washington, few are as unlikely as the common ground the democratic socialist senator Bernie Sanders briefly found with the Heritage Foundation and Americans for Prosperity, two architects of conservative policies across the United States.

Yet that is what happened this week when Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democrats, made a lonely and unsuccessful stand against a $280bn bill funding scientific research and, controversially, giving computer chip manufacturers financial incentives to build more production in the United States - one that rightwing groups also encouraged lawmakers to make.