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Scoop: Lutnick stalled curbing Nvidia chip sales to China — again — after Oval Office showdown

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and former Nvidia chief Jensen Huang to testify, as House Republicans demand closed-door interviews amid national security concerns.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 4 sources•1 min read•Updated November 13, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC
Key points
  • Commerce Secretary Lutnick will testify before the Senate Banking Committee following revelations about Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy.
  • "Secretary Lutnick is a champion of President Trump's America First trade and tariff policies, which have secured almost 20 fair trade deals and trillions in manufacturing investments," a White House official tells Axios.
  • "Secretary Howard Lutnick and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler must explain why they have not closed export control loopholes and act today to ensure our advanced technology is not fueling China's military," Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), poised to be the next Senate Banking Committee chair, said in a statement.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faced mounting pressure from lawmakers over the Trump administration’s handling of the Nvidia scandal.

The White House is standing by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick despite a view within the administration that Lutnick delayed action to address concerns over chip smuggling to China.

Additional details
  • Inside the room: On Thursday, as the spy scandal rocked the administration, Lutnick met in the Situation Room with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S.
  • Multiple Republican senators have called for Lutnick and Huang to appear before the chamber over the still-unfurling episode, while a Republican member of the House told Semafor “ questions need to be answered.” — Prashant Rao.
  • Why it matters: This standoff illustrates a breakdown in efforts to keep American technology out of China's hands as the world wonders why the Trump administration has not taken action against the company at the center of suspected chip smuggling — and an espionage scandal.
  • Musk supported Rubio, Bessent, Greer and Hegseth's case to impose the controls while Lutnick warned it "will start a trade war with China." "Everyone argued back that China is already doing to us what Lutnick warned would happen," a source said.
  • Lutnick appeared to agree, but then muttered under his breath, "I need to check with the president." Friction point: Lutnick's seemingly innocuous comment raised concerns, the sources said, because officials have repeatedly believed the Commerce Department would impose the export controls, only to have nothing happen.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 5 articles from 4 outlets

CNBCNovember 13, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC → SemaforNovember 13, 2026, 11:44 AM UTC → DW NewsNovember 13, 2026, 8:02 AM UTC → AxiosNovember 12, 2026, 4:03 PM UTC → AxiosNovember 11, 2026, 8:59 PM UTC →

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