Bessent hints at discord between treasury and commerce departments over advance chip exports
Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, said today that “for months” he has been in favor of putting Megaspeed, the data company whose executive is an alleged Chinese spy, on a trade blacklist to stop Nvidia from exporting advanced chips to Beijing.
However, Bessent said this has been stalled because “commerce [department] has the pen”.
“You will have to ask them about their internal process,” the treasury secretary added in an interview with CNBC on Friday.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that Bessent allegedly confronted Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, about his failure to put Megaspeed on the trade blacklist in the White House Situation Room.
However, speaking to CNBC, Bessent refused to comment on the meeting.
“We don’t repeat conversations in the Situation Room,” he said.
Key events
Lutnick set to testify on Nvidia fallout in December
As I noted earlier, the calls for Howard Lutnick to appear before lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been answered.
According to several reports, the commerce secretary has “proactively agreed to appear voluntarily” before the Senate banking committee on 10 December to discuss his relationship with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and any delay in preventing Megaspeed from buying considerable sums of Nvidia’s advanced chips.
Bessent hints at discord between treasury and commerce departments over advance chip exports
Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, said today that “for months” he has been in favor of putting Megaspeed, the data company whose executive is an alleged Chinese spy, on a trade blacklist to stop Nvidia from exporting advanced chips to Beijing.
However, Bessent said this has been stalled because “commerce [department] has the pen”.
“You will have to ask them about their internal process,” the treasury secretary added in an interview with CNBC on Friday.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that Bessent allegedly confronted Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, about his failure to put Megaspeed on the trade blacklist in the White House Situation Room.
However, speaking to CNBC, Bessent refused to comment on the meeting.
“We don’t repeat conversations in the Situation Room,” he said.
As we bring you the latest on the ramifications of Jensen Huang’s resignation, my colleague Jonathan Freedland has a wider discussion about Donald Trump’s decision to continue defending men who are facing a lot of heat. From Huang to embattled defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump has also (jokingly) begged strongmen to take his job offers.
In this week’s episode of Politics Weekly America, Jonathan speaks to the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser about why Trump’s judgment of high-profile men is … questionable.
Commerce secretary to testify on Capitol Hill over Nvidia fallout
There has been a wave of calls from Republican lawmakers in Congress for commerce secretary Howard Lutnick to testify on Capitol Hill, after Jensen Huang’s resignation as CEO of Nvidia.
Tim Scott, the Republican senator and chair of the banking committee, has sent a letter to Lutnick, calling for him to appear before his committee to discuss the national security concerns about chip export regulations in light of Huang’s relationship with data company executive and suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang (no relation to Jensen).
This also comes amid a New York Times report that the commerce department, under Lutnick’s leadership, has taken a more relaxed stance on Nvidia’s advanced chip sales to Asia given Lutnick’s close relationship with Huang.
Earlier this week the Times reported that a commerce department investigation into whether Megaspeed, Alice Huang’s company, was smuggling Nvidia chips into China, withered after an intervention from Nvidia’s general counsel.
Donald Trump is in Washington today, and will stay in the capital throughout the weekend.
He’ll spend the day in closed-door meetings on Friday, but we’ll let you know if anything opens up and we hear from the president in person.
JD Vance and 2028: To run or not to run?
Will JD Vance run for president in 2028? It’s a question that seems to have two rather different answers, depending on which news outlet you read.
Drawing on interviews with about a dozen people close to the US vice-president, CNN reported that his path to the Republican nomination has become less certain following the political fallout from the Republicans’ disappointing midterm performance.
One source said: “I wouldn’t be surprised by any decision he makes.” The same source pointed out that, at 42, Vance has plenty of time to pursue the presidency in future, adding: “It just may not be his time.”
A central concern appears be the consequences of Trump’s war with Iran. As one Vance ally put it: “The question isn’t if JD can do it. It’s: If the Iran war is still happening, can any Republican do it?
“If they don’t end the war in Iran, no Republican has a shot at 2028.”
While CNN painted a picture of a vice-president seriously weighing his options, the Washington Post offered a different perspective. In its report, based on conversations with more than a dozen people in Vance’s orbit, the newspaper said he remained more likely to run than not.
One person close to Vance said: “Two years is such an eternity in politics, and people are very easily prisoners of the moment.”
The Post reported another salient point:
People around Vance have embraced criticism from Republican backers of the war. Vance’s goal has long been to make “the right enemies,” and he is doing so now, another ally said.”
Lex McMenamin
Dozens of protesters with the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate organization, were arrested after staging a sit-in inside Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer’s Washington DC office on Thursday.
According to the Sunrise Movement, 54 people were arrested, among a few hundred who joined the protest from across the country, including some from New York, which Schumer represents. On its Instagram, the group is fundraising $24,000 to cover the bail fees and any potential legal fees for those arrested.
Capitol police were not immediately available for comment.
In a clip on the Sunrise Movement’s Instagram, with over 40,000 likes at the time of publication, young people sitting on the office floor chanted: “Hey hey, ho ho, Schumer has got to go!” Protesters, including children, held signs reading “The filibuster kills,” “Stop the climate crisis,” and “Schumer: Step up or step aside.”
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There have been murmurings of a possible leadership challenge in recent days, with a number of Democrats questioning whether Schumer is the right person to lead the party into its next chapter.
Among the most outspoken was Kansas senator-elect Adam Hamilton, who warned Schumer was seen by many people in his state as a “polarising” and “divisive” figure.
“What I’d be looking for is a leader who can lead from the centre,” he told NBC on Sunday. “Somebody who can bring Republicans and Democrats together, somebody who can bring the various factions in the Democratic party together. Somebody with fresh ideas.
“No disrespect for Chuck Schumer, just it feels like it is a time for fresh and new ideas and somebody who can unite us instead of dividing us.”
Senator Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan, has also made clear she does not support Schumer as leader.
“I think whoever wants to run this caucus should come forward with a plan on how they’re going to govern differently, what they’re going to do in the first 100 days to put money in people’s pockets and then in particular how they’re going to communicate differently,” Slotkin said on Tuesday, adding that she was not actively seeking the position herself.
Speaking alongside her at the joint press conference, independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, praised Schumer’s role in the party’s success in the midterms but argued such victories should not entitle him to another term in the leadership.
“I personally have known Chuck Schumer for over 30 years, and I like Chuck. Nobody works harder than Chuck Schumer,” Sanders said.
“But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be re-elected as the Democratic leader.”
Van Hollen takes aim at Schumer as Democrats face first big test after midterm wins
Good morning, and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Barely a week after sweeping to a stunning midterm victory, Democrats have found themselves facing an altogether different battle, one within their own ranks.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen has launched a challenge to Chuck Schumer, of New York, for the Senate’s top Democratic leadership post. Announcing his decision during an interview with MS Now last night, Van Hollen argued that last week’s midterm election results showed Americans wanted a fundamental change in Washington, and that Democrats needed new leadership in order to deliver that.
He said:
We saw a huge outburst of democracy on election day – red states, blue states, purple states – and it wasn’t only a rejection of Donald Trump and his corruption, his wars and his cruelty, it was also about a call for a larger change, to take on a broken economic system that’s rigged in favour of the very wealthy against working people, and it’s fuelled by a corrupt political system.
The call was to reject the status quo and to reject business as usual, and to do that, I think we need new leadership.”
His challenge came just days after Democrats secured control of the Senate, winning at least 55 seats in what has been a remarkable election cycle for the party. Winning the leadership contest requires a majority of the caucus, about 28 or 29 senators, with an election scheduled for next month.
The caucus votes behind closed doors by secret ballot, but Van Hollen told MS Now that he had the support of “more than 10” Democratic senators.
Progressive heavyweight Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, has already publicly declared he will not support Schumer, saying “the time is now for change”. Endorsing Van Hollen, Sanders said: “The American people voted for change. They want a Democratic Party that will stand up to powerful special interests, take on the billionaire class and fight for working families.”
Incoming Democratic senator Abdul El-Sayed, of Michigan, has also openly backed Van Hollen, saying he was “proud to stand with him in his bid to lead our Senate majority”.
The American public spoke clearly last week. They rejected Trumpism. But we have yet to earn our mandate. That will require bold leadership. I called [Van Hollen] to lead our caucus as a candidate back in April because he leads with courage and experience. We need both right now.”
Responding to Van Hollen’s leadership bid, Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since January 2017, said he welcomed “a discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead”, but that he had the votes to be re-elected as leader.
