Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has agreed to appear before the Senate Banking Committee, a move that comes as lawmakers from both parties demand answers over the Nvidia espionage controversy and the Commerce Department's handling of semiconductor export controls.
Lutnick "proactively agreed to appear voluntarily" before the panel, according to a statement from Commerce spokesperson Kristen Eichamer. The agreement follows a formal request from Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who sent letters Thursday to both Lutnick and former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang asking them to testify in early December.
"Given the Department of Commerce's central role in issuing and enforcing export control regulations, your testimony before the Committee will be essential to our oversight of these efforts," Scott wrote. He added that "recent developments underscore the significant national security and economic interests at stake and the need for timely, substantive engagement with Congress."
Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive on Thursday after a series of personal scandals, including an affair with a woman U.S. officials suspect of funneling information to Beijing. The revelation immediately triggered bipartisan calls for investigations, given Nvidia's pivotal position in the artificial intelligence boom and Huang's close relationship with President Trump.
But Lutnick faces his own scrutiny. Multiple outlets have reported that the Commerce Department paused an investigation last year into Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company suspected of helping smuggle Nvidia chips to China. The woman at the center of Huang's affair, former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, is the same individual U.S. intelligence concluded was a Chinese asset.
The Commerce Department reportedly handed the Megaspeed probe to the Department of Justice, though neither agency has confirmed that transfer. Axios reported earlier this week that Lutnick held up a directive from Trump and other agency heads to crack down on firms suspected of diverting Nvidia chips to China.
Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a Banking Committee member who has long pushed for stricter chip export rules, called Thursday for Lutnick to testify. "They opposed other export control laws, and now we know that the Department of Commerce Secretary Lutnick, it appears, used loopholes to allow some of these chip sales to occur, even though President Trump has directed his administration and the Department of Commerce not to allow that to happen," Banks told Fox News.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the committee's top Democrat, argued that Lutnick and Commerce 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." Kessler leads the Bureau of Industry and Security, the agency responsible for enforcing U.S. export controls.
The upcoming hearing is expected to probe both the Nvidia scandal and the broader enforcement of chip export restrictions. Lawmakers have also raised concerns about bipartisan divisions over who bears responsibility for the alleged lapses. Meanwhile, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has demanded answers about the paused Megaspeed investigation, and some lawmakers are urging a bipartisan approach to foreign policy and AI oversight.
The testimony is set against a backdrop of heightened tensions over U.S.-China technology competition, with lawmakers in both parties eager to show they are taking national security threats seriously.
