U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faces growing bipartisan calls to resign and demands for congressional testimony after allegations surfaced that he stalled chip export controls following the resignation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang over an affair with alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang. Despite internal Cabinet pushes and presidential directives to blacklist intermediary firm Megaspeed International, Lutnick reportedly delayed enforcement, though the White House maintains full confidence in him.
Bipartisan congressional fallout for Secretary Lutnick
- ▪Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina criticized Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for allowing Nvidia executive Jensen Huang access to President Donald Trump despite reported espionage warnings
- ▪Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, requested in a November 12, 2026 letter that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testify regarding federal chip policy oversight
- ▪Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut publicly called on U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign on November 13, 2026, accusing him of shielding Nvidia from federal oversight
- ▪Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Richard Neal requested that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick preserve all records regarding Trump administration decisions on Nvidia chip sales to China
Commerce Secretary Lutnick delaying chip restrictions
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump authorized taking action on three separate occasions to curb suspected diversions of Nvidia AI chips to China, but implementation was stalled by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
- ▪Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick delayed internal proposals from the Treasury, State, and USTR to add Singapore-based Megaspeed International to the Commerce Department's restrictive Entity List
- ▪Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on November 13, 2026 that multiple Cabinet agencies supported placing Megaspeed International on the Entity List while the Commerce Department delayed action
Spy allegations involving Jensen and Alice Huang
- ▪Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive officer on November 12, 2026 following public revelations of an affair with Alice Huang, an alleged Chinese spy under federal investigation
- ▪U.S. officials alleged that Alice Huang worked for Beijing's Ministry of State Security to obtain advanced American artificial intelligence semiconductors through her firm Megaspeed International
- ▪The Central Intelligence Agency issued a warning in late 2025 regarding Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang's relationship with alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang, which was detailed in a book assembled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Megaspeed International chip diversions and investigations
- ▪The U.S. Commerce Department initiated an investigation into Megaspeed International in 2024 for chip-control violations but stopped short of placing the company on an official blacklist
- ▪Singapore-based Megaspeed International reportedly struck a November 2023 deal with Alibaba to acquire Nvidia servers and subsequently shipped advanced AI chips directly to cloud-computing providers in China
Trump administration responses and actions on Nvidia
- ▪Following Jensen Huang's resignation on November 12, 2026, President Donald Trump publicly praised the former Nvidia chief executive as an honorable leader and suggested former Apple CEO Tim Cook as a successor
- ▪A White House official stated that President Donald Trump maintains complete confidence in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick despite escalating bipartisan congressional scrutiny
Commerce Department export controls and internal routing
- ▪Following a 2025 inquiry from Nvidia's general counsel about Alice Huang's detention in Singapore, Bureau of Industry and Security staff were instructed to route all Nvidia inquiries through Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler
- ▪The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is finalizing export rules to restrict AI chip shipments to seven additional countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore
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