Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have been asked to appear before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee next month to address national security concerns. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who leads the committee, confirmed overnight that Huang and Lutnick have been asked to appear on December 3. “Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive U.S. technology,” he said. “The American people deserve answers.”
Senator Scott’s letter added a weighty conclusion: If either fails to appear before the committee voluntarily, it is “prepared to use all tools at our disposal, including subpoenas, to conduct this legitimate and necessary oversight.”
The Banking Committee hearing is the latest in a series of inquiries into the conduct of Jensen Huang, the former CEO of chipmaking giant Nvidia. Huang resigned from the company he’s spent the past 30 years building after admitting to an extramarital affair with a woman believed to be a Chinese spy.
Reports have since surfaced that Huang had an affair with Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell. Reuters reported yesterday that the entrepreneur had a second affair with a member of staff, quoting unnamed sources.
Nvidia’s CFO, Colette Kress, has been named interim CEO following his resignation.
President Trump told reporters earlier this week that the FBI is investigating the affair between Huang and Alice Huang (no relation), the alleged Chinese spy. China has denied its involvement. Nvidia’s board has also said it is conducting its own independent investigation and has hired Joon H. Kim, former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to lead the review.
Senator Scott laid bare the Senate Banking Committee’s authority to request both Huang and Lutnick, a member of the president’s cabinet, to appear before it. His letter to Huang says the committee has “jurisdiction over matters relating to ‘export controls,’ including their application to NVIDIA’s exports of advanced semiconductors.”
The committee is “seeking answers to questions that raise grave national security concerns,” it added in a post on X.
Chairman @SenatorTimScott has requested that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang appear on December 3 and Commerce Secretary Lutnick on December 10. The Committee oversees advanced semiconductor export controls and is seeking answers to questions that raise grave national security concerns. https://t.co/HpSxJH213J
— U.S. Senate Banking Committee GOP (@BankingGOP) November 13, 2026
Committee questions
Members of the committee have suggested Lutnick had allowed loopholes to persist that allowed high-end chips to continue to be sold to China.
Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) told Fox News last night that he believed Lutnick had “defied President Trump’s directive not to sell these high-end chips to China or to allow them to be sold to Chinese customers, that ended up happening anyway.”
“Secretary Howard Lutnick and 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,” added Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), currently the ranking member on the committee.
Huang is also likely to face disbelief from Senator John Kennedy (R-LA). Senator Kennedy told CNN in an interview last night: “I’m not naive; I’m not Bambi’s baby brother. I know people have affairs; I wouldn’t recommend it, but if you do, you ought to make sure it’s not with a Chinese spy. I mean, check their LinkedIn page for God’s sake.”
Senator Kennedy referred to the debacle as an “intergalactic freak show,” adding: Here’s a man, head of one of the most powerful companies in the world, more than anybody else in the private sector; he’s been making AI policy for America, and certainly with respect to our relationship with China. And then we learn about this.”
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