Washington, Nov 15 (IANS) Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen called on Sunday for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to be fired, while former Vice President Mike Pence demanded answers about US chip exports following Jensen Huang’s departure from Nvidia.
The comments put the administration’s handling of advanced semiconductor sales under scrutiny on the Sunday political programmes, alongside questions about what President Donald Trump knew of allegations involving Huang.
“I think he should be fired,” Van Hollen said on ABC’s “This Week”, arguing that Commerce should have placed Singapore-based Megaspeed on its export blacklist after receiving information about the company.
Van Hollen pointed to comments by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, aired by ABC, that several agencies had supported restrictions on Megaspeed for months but Commerce controlled the decision.
Commerce previously told Axios that its reporting on the department’s handling of the matter was inaccurate and defended Lutnick’s advisory role.
Pence, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, said Huang’s departure should not end scrutiny of decisions that allowed advanced American chips to reach companies that could supply them to China.
The Republican former vice president questioned the rationale for loosening export controls and called for an examination of who, beyond Huang, had driven those decisions. He also questioned whether Commerce had exercised sufficient oversight.
Van Hollen separately challenged Trump’s denial that he had received an earlier warning about Huang’s relationship with a woman reportedly linked by US intelligence to China.
ABC reported, citing sources, that Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed Trump aboard Air Force One during a trip to China in May. Huang accompanied the president on that trip.
Trump denied hearing about the matter then. He also said Huang had told him he did not know the woman was a spy and that he believed Huang.
Van Hollen said he believed Trump had been briefed and called for an investigation involving testimony under oath.
ABC, citing The New York Times, identified the woman as Alice Huang, a senior executive at Megaspeed, which had access to Nvidia’s advanced chips. The network reported allegations that the company diverted chips to China and said Beijing had denied them. The intelligence allegations remain distinct from any established finding of espionage.
On CBS, Representative John Moolenaar said Huang and Nvidia representatives had agreed to interviews with three House committees; dates remained under discussion.
Huang said in a November 8 message to employees that he supported an independent investigation into the national security concerns raised in news reports and would cooperate fully. Nvidia’s independent directors subsequently said they had retained former federal prosecutor Joon Kim and his law firm to conduct the investigation.
The chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and China select committees issued requests on November 12 for appearances by Huang, Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter and Commerce official Jeffrey Kessler. The requests extended congressional scrutiny beyond the company’s former chief executive to its legal leadership and the administration’s export-control officials.
Nvidia announced Huang’s departure on Thursday, naming chief financial officer Colette Kress interim chief executive and Harvey Jones board chairman. A securities filing says Huang’s resignation as president, chief executive and director took effect on Wednesday.
–IANS
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