Senate Republicans seek Lutnick testimony on Nvidia enforcement

Aidan Williams, Bloomberg News on Nov 15, 2026

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Senate Republicans are pressing U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify before Congress over allegations that his department failed to prevent Nvidia Corp.’s prized artificial intelligence chips from reaching China.

Senator Jim Banks said he wants Lutnick to explain the “glaring mistakes” that allowed Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based cloud computing company accused of smuggling Nvidia chips to China, to avoid being placed on a U.S. export blacklist. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has also asked for Lutnick’s testimony.

Lutnick oversees the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which restricts exports to designated companies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused him of failing to add Megaspeed to the list despite pressure from the Treasury and State departments and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

“To this day, right now, as we sit here in in this interview this morning, Megaspeed is still not on the Entity List,” Banks said on "Fox News Sunday." “So there’s an obvious mistake that’s being made here.”

Megaspeed came under scrutiny last week following reports that former Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang had an affair with a former executive, Alice Huang. U.S. intelligence officials believe she was spying for the Chinese government and that Megaspeed sold Nvidia chips to unauthorized Chinese entities.

Megaspeed, in a statement to the Associated Press, said Alice Huang left the company in August 2025 and that outside lawyers would conduct an internal investigation.

Lutnick agreed Thursday to testify before the Senate Banking Committee, according to his spokesperson, Kristen Eichamer, who spoke to NBC News. Scott had requested that Lutnick and Jensen Huang appear on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10, respectively.

The White House is discussing whether to dismiss Lutnick over his handling of the Nvidia controversy, Reuters reported. Lutnick is now scheduled to accompany Trump on his trip to Asia in a last-minute schedule change, Semafor reported Sunday.

Democrats have also criticized Lutnick over the alleged national security lapse, with some welcoming the prospect of his dismissal.

“This is a case where this company should have been on the Entity List,” Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week." “The question is, why were they not on that? And I think now we’re getting answers through the relationship between the president, Jensen Huang and now Jensen Huang’s girlfriend.”

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