Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is finding out the hard way that “America First” is not a slogan you can switch off when the subject turns to China.

MAGA allies, Republican senators and even fellow members of President Trump’s Cabinet are demanding answers over allegations that Lutnick’s department stalled efforts to restrict a company suspected of diverting advanced Nvidia chips to Communist China.

And now Lutnick has agreed to testify.

Axios reported Saturday that scrutiny of Lutnick has intensified inside the administration, on Capitol Hill and across the MAGA base. Administration officials had pushed to place Singapore-based Megaspeed International on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which would have restricted its access to sensitive American technology.

The report said President Trump supported taking action on three occasions, but the efforts were delayed by Lutnick. It also reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepared a memo in March so Cabinet officials with responsibility for Nvidia and artificial intelligence understood the intelligence concerns surrounding Megaspeed and its former executive Alice Huang.

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Commerce disputed Axios’ account and called the reporting inaccurate. President Trump has continued to stand by Lutnick, while congressional Republicans and administration officials press for a public accounting of what Commerce knew and why the Entity List action did not move sooner.

The allegations remain contested. Megaspeed has denied wrongdoing, Beijing has rejected the espionage claims, and the Commerce Department told Axios that its reporting was inaccurate and created a false impression.

But this is no longer a story that can be waved away with a press statement.

CBS News reported that Lutnick agreed to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on December 10. The committee is investigating whether the Commerce Department delayed adding Megaspeed to the government’s Entity List while serious national-security concerns grew that the Singapore-based Nvidia customer was directing advanced chips to China in an effort to circumvent American export restrictions.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not mince words about which department held the authority to act.

Bessent said Treasury, the Department of War, the U.S. Trade Representative and the State Department had supported putting Megaspeed on the Entity List for months.

“Commerce has the pen,” Bessent said, directing questions about the delay back to Lutnick’s department.

Megaspeed was previously led by Alice Huang, whom U.S. officials suspect of ties to Chinese intelligence. The company has denied diverting chips, and no public finding has established that Lutnick committed a crime; the dispute is about whether his department used its export-control authority quickly and aggressively enough after warnings reached senior officials.

Lutnick’s voluntary appearance will put those decisions under oath and give senators a chance to compare Commerce’s explanation with the accounts from Bessent and other agencies.

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That is an extraordinary public rebuke of a fellow Cabinet secretary.

Republican lawmakers are driving the most politically dangerous part of the inquiry.

Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott requested public testimony from Lutnick and former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Sen. Jim Banks said Lutnick should appear “ASAP,” arguing that the Commerce Department appeared to use loopholes that allowed chip sales despite President Trump’s direction to stop sensitive technology from reaching China.

ABC News reported that House Republican chairmen are also seeking testimony from Nvidia and Commerce officials, citing concerns about chip smuggling, adversary military use and possible interference with export-control investigations.

Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford and Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar requested a closed-door interview with Huang and warned that a subpoena could follow if he refused. They also sought appearances from Nvidia’s general counsel and Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler.

The House demands broaden the investigation beyond one Cabinet secretary. Lawmakers want to know whether private companies pressured the government to weaken enforcement, whether restricted chips reached adversaries, and whether Commerce officials responded properly when intelligence and policy concerns converged around the same company.

Those are allegations and questions—not final findings. Congress should establish what happened, who knew what, and whether any official ignored warnings.

President Trump has publicly stood by Lutnick so far. Loyalty matters, especially in an administration constantly targeted by the same political class that spent years manufacturing scandals.

But loyalty to the President also means carrying out the President’s policy. And no Cabinet secretary should be allowed to treat America’s technological advantage like a bargaining chip for Beijing.

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If Commerce acted properly, Lutnick should bring the documents and prove it. If officials slow-walked a national-security decision after receiving credible warnings, the people responsible should face consequences.

The American people deserve the truth. Communist China does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

 

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