U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Dec. 10, a U.S. official confirmed. The development comes as the Commerce Department faces mounting oversight regarding its regulation of advanced artificial intelligence chip exports following the recent resignation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Lawmakers, particularly a growing number of Republicans, are demanding answers from Lutnick over why the Commerce Department apparently delayed adding Singapore-based Megaspeed International to the U.S. government’s Entity List. Inclusion on the list would have restricted the firm’s access to high-performance AI hardware.
Federal authorities suspect Megaspeed of rerouting sophisticated Nvidia chips to China to bypass U.S. trade prohibitions. The company was previously headed by Alice Huang, an alleged Chinese spy who engaged in an extramarital affair with Jensen Huang.
Criticism has intensified within Congress and across the executive branch. GOP Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, told Fox News on Thursday that it appears Secretary Lutnick and the Commerce Department utilized loopholes to permit chip transactions despite explicit directions from President Trump prohibiting such sales.
Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed directly to the Commerce Department for the administrative holdup. Bessent emphasized that the Treasury Department, Department of War, U.S. Trade Representative, and State Department had all supported placing Megaspeed on the Entity List for months. However, because Commerce holds the official authority to execute the listing, Bessent noted that inquiries regarding internal delays must be directed to them.
Bessent declined to address reported friction between himself and Lutnick. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the upcoming hearing or the department’s handling of the export restrictions.
