Congress Summons Jensen Huang and Howard Lutnick Over Nvidia Chip Exports to China

admin · November 13, 2026 · 7 min read

The United States Capitol building with a glowing computer chip, illustrating Congress summoning Jensen Huang and Howard Lutnick over Nvidia chip exports to China.

Congress moved within hours of Jensen Huang’s resignation from Nvidia to demand his testimony, summoning the former chief executive and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to appear in December over alleged leaks of advanced American chips to China.

The Senate Banking Committee and three House committees sent separate letters on Thursday, November 12, each carrying a warning: appear voluntarily, or face a subpoena.

Two chambers, two sets of dates

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, wrote to Huang and Lutnick on Thursday asking Huang to testify at a public hearing on December 3 and Lutnick on December 10. Scott said the committee was prepared to use “all tools at our disposal, including subpoenas” if Huang did not appear voluntarily.

“I am requesting that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testify before the Senate Banking Committee,” Scott wrote in his letter to Lutnick, according to Decrypt.

In the House, the chairmen of three committees — Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast of Florida, Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar of Michigan, and Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford of Arkansas — sent a joint letter demanding a closed-door, transcribed interview with Huang on December 1 and with Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter on December 2. Both men were given until 8 p.m. EST on Friday, November 13, to confirm in writing, or the Foreign Affairs Committee will issue subpoenas.

“We request written confirmation of your acceptance of this request by 8 p.m. EST on November 13, 2026, or a subpoena will be issued,” the chairmen wrote to Huang, according to IANS.

The House committees also invited Jeffrey Kessler, the Commerce Department under secretary who runs the Bureau of Industry and Security, to testify at a hearing on December 3. The bureau administers America’s export controls.

What lawmakers want to know

At the center of the inquiries is Megaspeed, a Singapore-based Nvidia customer whose former executive, Alice Huang, is suspected by U.S. officials of having ties to Chinese intelligence. Megaspeed is under investigation in the United States and Singapore over alleged smuggling of restricted Nvidia chips to China, which the company denies.

The House chairmen said they wanted answers about chip smuggling, the military use of advanced artificial intelligence chips by American adversaries, and reports of private companies interfering with export-control policies and investigations.

“We need to know the full extent to which our national security has been put at risk,” the three chairmen said in a statement, according to multiple reports.

“There are clear national security concerns that need to be addressed immediately,” Mast, Moolenaar and Crawford wrote in their letter, Reuters reported.

The Senate Banking Committee, which oversees export controls, has jurisdiction over the Commerce Department’s handling of Nvidia chip sales and Megaspeed. Lawmakers in both parties have questioned how the department handled the matter.

The scandal behind the summons

Huang resigned as Nvidia’s president, chief executive and board member on November 12, ending a 33-year tenure at the company he co-founded in 1993. Nvidia’s board had accepted his resignation the day before. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress is serving as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent successor.

The resignation followed weeks of controversy. On November 8, Nvidia’s board announced an independent investigation into reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Huang has acknowledged marital infidelity in an internal company message, but the company gave no reason for his departure.

The allegations involving Alice Huang — who is not related to Jensen Huang — remain unproven. The New York Times has reported that U.S. officials concluded she is a Chinese intelligence asset, while CNN reported on November 12, citing multiple sources in the U.S. intelligence community, that the intelligence collected so far does not prove she was acting as a spy for China. Attorney General Todd Blanche has said the Justice Department is investigating whether she is a spy and has not reached a conclusion. China denies the spying allegations, and Reuters has said it could not independently verify them.

Why this matters

The summonses show that Huang’s resignation has not closed the congressional inquiry — it has widened it. Lawmakers are now looking beyond one executive’s conduct to the system that allowed restricted chips to reach China: the export-control rules themselves, the Commerce Department officials who enforced them, and the companies that may have worked around them.

Lutnick’s inclusion puts the Trump administration’s own export-control oversight under scrutiny. Reuters has reported that senior White House officials are discussing whether Lutnick should be pushed out over export-control oversight tied to the Nvidia scandal. Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons have separately asked Nvidia to preserve records related to its China chip sales, with a deadline of November 17.

For Nvidia, the hearings land at a sensitive moment. The company reports quarterly results on Tuesday, November 17, and holds a company-wide meeting the following day. Its shares fell sharply on the resignation news before recovering much of the loss, closing down 4.3 percent on Thursday at $166.19.

Latest developments

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Mast said on Thursday that Huang had agreed to brief lawmakers before Thanksgiving, with the exact date still being negotiated, according to NBC News and The Hill. That briefing could come sooner than the December 1 interview date set in the formal letter — but the subpoena deadline of 8 p.m. Friday still stands unless Huang confirms in writing.

The dates now on the table are requests, not compelled appearances. If Huang and Teter confirm by Friday evening, the subpoenas will not be issued. If they do not, both chambers have said they will use their subpoena power.

Frequently asked questions

When is Jensen Huang supposed to testify?

The House committees have asked Huang to sit for a closed-door, transcribed interview on December 1, and the Senate Banking Committee has asked him to testify at a public hearing on December 3. Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter has been asked to appear on December 2, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on December 10.

What happens if Huang refuses?

Both chambers have warned of subpoenas. The House letter gives Huang until 8 p.m. EST on Friday, November 13, to confirm in writing, or the Foreign Affairs Committee will issue a subpoena. Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott said his committee is prepared to use “all tools at our disposal, including subpoenas.”

What is Megaspeed?

Megaspeed is a Singapore-based data center company and Nvidia customer. Its former executive Alice Huang is suspected by U.S. officials of having ties to Chinese intelligence, and the company is under investigation in the United States and Singapore over alleged smuggling of restricted Nvidia chips to China. Megaspeed denies wrongdoing, and no charges have been made public.

Has anyone been charged?

No. The Justice Department is investigating whether Alice Huang is a spy and has not reached a conclusion, according to Attorney General Todd Blanche. The intelligence reporting on her remains disputed, and the allegations have not been proven.

What to watch next

The first test comes Friday evening, when the 8 p.m. deadline for Huang and Teter to confirm their December appearances expires. A confirmation would set up a December of high-profile testimony on chip exports, export controls and national security — with the former Nvidia chief, his company’s top lawyer, the commerce secretary and the official who runs America’s export-control bureau all on the witness list.