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Trump sticks by Commerce Secretary Lutnick despite Nvidia inaction

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

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 3 sources•2 min read•Updated November 13, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC
Key points
  • "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.
  • 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.

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.

Commerce Secretary Lutnick will testify before the Senate Banking Committee following revelations about Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy.

Additional details
  • But I don't think he ought to wait on Congress." The Commerce Department has not confirmed for the record whether or not Lutnick has seen the memo.
  • Lawmakers want to know what the Trump administration did or did not do in response to that intelligence — and Lutnick, the official in charge of the department at the center of export control policy, is squarely in their field of view.
  • "NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's decision to resign does not absolve him, other executives, or the company as a whole of responsibility for putting our national security at risk or for any potential violations of our laws," Warren said.
  • "Jensen Huang himself has been a pretty bold, some might even say arrogant promoter, sort of dismissing our concerns about China having access to these most advanced chips.
  • "Secretary Lutnick needs to answer that in front of God and country," Kennedy added.

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 — 3 articles from 3 outlets

CNBCNovember 13, 2026, 3:49 PM UTC → SemaforNovember 13, 2026, 11:44 AM UTC → AxiosNovember 12, 2026, 4:03 PM UTC →

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