--- title: Jensen Huang Has Agreed to Testify Before Congress, and So Has Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick description: House chairs want Jensen Huang for a transcribed interview on 1 December, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will face the Senate Banking Committee. author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-13T20:45:20.898Z updated: 2026-11-13T20:45:20.911Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/jensen-huang-testify-congress-lutnick image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/jensen-huang-testify-congress-lutnick.webp categories: Politics, Business content_type: News region: United States publication: Sovereign Magazine about: - type: Person name: Jensen Huang description: Jensen Huang co-founded Nvidia, the chipmaker based in Santa Clara, California, in 1993 and was its chief executive until he resigned in November 2026. - type: Person name: Howard Lutnick description: Howard Lutnick is the US Commerce Secretary, confirmed by the Senate in February 2025, and previously led the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. jobTitle: US Commerce Secretary --- Jensen Huang has agreed to answer lawmakers' questions, Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Thursday, the day Huang [resigned as Nvidia's chief executive](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/jensen-huang-resigns-nvidia). In a letter dated the same day, Mast and the chairs of the House intelligence and China committees asked Huang to sit for a closed-door, transcribed interview on 1 December, and gave him until 8pm Eastern time on Friday to confirm in writing or face a subpoena. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees the approval of Nvidia's exports to China, has also agreed to testify. His spokesperson said he "has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily" before the Senate Banking Committee, whose Republican chair, Tim Scott, has asked Lutnick to a public hearing on 10 December and Huang to appear on 3 December. "We need to know the full extent to which our national security has been put at risk," the three House chairs said. Their questions concern Alice Huang, a former executive of the Nvidia customer Megaspeed, whom a classified US memo describes as a recruit of China's Ministry of State Security, according to the New York Times and the Financial Times. She has not been charged, and China denies the allegation. "Despite Jensen Huang's resignation, Congress must demand answers from Mr. Huang and others at Nvidia about how they may have put U.S. national security at risk," Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, wrote on X. ## The House Chairs Have Asked Huang for a Transcribed Interview on 1 December "He has agreed to come," Mast told reporters on Thursday, adding that the committees were "in negotiations for which day". He told The Hill that the session was "likely going to be under oath, transcribed, video recorded", with the intelligence, China and foreign affairs committees all expected to take part, and he said Huang would appear before Thanksgiving, which falls on 26 November. The chairs' written request sets a later date. "As an accommodation to reflect recent events, we request that you appear for a closed-door, transcribed interview on December 1, 2026," wrote Mast, John Moolenaar of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and Rick Crawford of the House Intelligence Committee. They addressed the letter to Huang care of his lawyer, Walter Brown of the firm Paul, Weiss, and warned that the Foreign Affairs Committee would issue a subpoena "to compel your testimony in a format of the committee's choosing" if he did not cooperate. They had first asked him, on 4 November, to attend a briefing on 18 November. Huang and Nvidia have not commented on the new date. > "I don't want to see anything hurt in Nvidia, but he has some very serious questions to answer." > — Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee The same chairs asked Tim Teter, Nvidia's general counsel, for an interview on 2 December about "AI chip smuggling, adversary military use of NVIDIA products, and recent public reports regarding NVIDIA's interference in U.S. export control policies and investigations, including those involving Megaspeed". In 2025 Teter [emailed the federal agents investigating Megaspeed](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/commerce-department-megaspeed-lutnick). Mast also asked Jeffrey Kessler, the Commerce under secretary who runs the department's export-control bureau, to a hearing on 3 December. Moolenaar said Huang's resignation "does change the dynamic" but that "right now our goal is to get him in as soon as possible". In a statement he said, "Nvidia must now change its corporate practices and appoint leadership that makes national security its top priority." ## Bessent Says Other Departments Wanted Megaspeed Blacklisted for Months Lutnick [was sent a classified memo in May](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/lutnick-memo-megaspeed-entity-list) about Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, Axios has reported, and Megaspeed is still not on the Entity List, the trade blacklist his department keeps. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC: "Treasury, War, [the U.S. Trade Representative] and State, they were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the Entity List for months, but Commerce has the pen." He declined to comment on reports of tension between him and Lutnick. Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the situation, that senior White House officials were discussing whether Lutnick should be pushed out. Earlier that day, a White House official had said that President Donald Trump "maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position". The White House and the Commerce Department did not respond to Reuters. Mast said he has confidence in Lutnick but that Congress should look at the department's role in approving chip exports. Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, wants Lutnick to testify. "Apparently, the Department of Commerce greenlit the sale of $4 billion in advanced chips to the spy's company," he told CNN on Thursday. Asked whether Lutnick should lose his job, he said, "I don't know yet." Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat on the House China committee, told the network, "The commerce secretary has failed America and he's got to go." ## Democrats, Who Take Control of Congress in January, Have Opened Their Own Inquiries Democrats won the House and the Senate in the 3 November midterms and will chair the committees from January. At his weekly news conference on Thursday, Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, called Huang's resignation "the right thing" and demanded a classified briefing for every member of Congress. "To the extent that national security may have been compromised, Americans deserve answers," he said, adding that Gregory Meeks and Jim Himes, the senior Democrats on the foreign affairs and intelligence committees, were looking into what happened. Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Richard Neal, the senior Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, wrote to Lutnick on Thursday that they are "beginning an investigation into the Trump Administration's scheme to approve and tax exports of advanced Nvidia Corporation (Nvidia) AI chips to Chinese companies with concerning links to the Chinese government, military, and sanctioned entities". The arrangement they refer to is the one Trump announced in December 2025, under which Nvidia could sell its H200 chips to approved Chinese buyers and the US government would take a cut of the sales. Wyden and Neal told Lutnick to keep all records of his department's approvals for Nvidia, its contacts with Nvidia and Huang, and its investigation into semiconductor imports. ## Trump Says Huang Is "Going Through Hell" and Wants Apple's Tim Cook to Run Nvidia Trump called Huang on Tuesday and urged him to fight to keep his job, the New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the conversation. After the resignation he wrote on Truth Social: "NOW THAT Nvidia CEO JENSEN HUANG, who has done a fantastic job, has resigned, there is only one man to take his place - TIM COOK of Apple. A Legend replaces a Legend!" Nvidia's board, led by its new chair Harvey C. Jones, is searching for a permanent chief executive and will look at candidates inside and outside the company. [Colette Kress, the finance chief](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/colette-kress-nvidia-interim-ceo), is running Nvidia in the meantime. On Stephen A. Smith's podcast on Thursday, Trump said he had spoken to Huang the day before. "I always thought of him as a fine man. I spoke to him yesterday. He's going through hell," he said. Asked whether Huang should have stepped down, Trump said, "Was the woman a spy? And I don't know if that's not been determined yet. But if the woman was a spy, yes. If the woman was not a spy, perhaps it would be different." ## Singapore Barred Alice Huang in February, and Nvidia's Board Is Still Investigating Huang Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said on Thursday that [Alice Huang had been barred from returning](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/who-is-alice-huang-megaspeed) after she left the country in February, and that its investigation of her did not concern espionage. It said its requests to US authorities had produced "limited information or assistance in respect of the company". Megaspeed said on Thursday that it takes its obligations under US export rules "extremely seriously", that it has cooperated with inspections by the Commerce Department's export-control bureau, and that it has hired a US law firm to count its graphics processors and check how it follows export controls. The independent members of Nvidia's board plan to keep investigating Huang despite his resignation, NBC News reported on Friday. The inquiry is led by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Joon H. Kim, a former acting chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan. On 9 November an investor, Mark Kistenmacher, filed a proposed class action against Nvidia and Huang in federal court in San Jose, accusing them of defrauding shareholders by hiding Huang's ties to Alice Huang. On Friday Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said China "has consistently opposed the abuse of export control measures, which disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains and serves no party's interests." Kress presents her first quarterly results as interim chief executive on 17 November. The House chairs have asked for Huang's interview on 1 December, Teter's on 2 December and Kessler's hearing on 3 December, the same day Scott wants Huang before the Senate Banking Committee. Lutnick's Senate hearing has been requested for 10 December. ## FAQ **Q: What is Jensen Huang accused of?** Huang has not been charged with any crime. Lawmakers want to know whether US national security was put at risk by his relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive of the Nvidia customer Megaspeed, whom a classified US memo reportedly describes as a recruit of China's Ministry of State Security. China denies the allegation, and Singapore said its own investigation of her did not concern espionage. A proposed class action filed on 9 November accuses Nvidia and Huang of defrauding shareholders by hiding those ties. Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says Huang has agreed to answer questions from House committees. **Q: What is going on with Howard Lutnick?** Lutnick, the US Commerce Secretary, is under pressure from both parties over how his department handled Nvidia's chip sales to China and Megaspeed, which is not on the department's Entity List. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on 13 November that the Treasury, State and War departments and the US Trade Representative had wanted Megaspeed on the list for months. On 12 November senior White House officials were reported to be discussing whether Lutnick should be pushed out, and a White House official said the same day that Trump has complete confidence in him. Lutnick has agreed to appear before the Senate Banking Committee, which has asked him to a public hearing on 10 December. **Q: Why did Jensen Huang resign?** Nvidia gave no reason when it announced on 12 November that Huang had resigned as president, chief executive and director, effective immediately, a day after reports that directors were getting ready to oust him. Trump, who had reportedly urged Huang to fight to keep his job, said afterwards that whether Huang should have stepped down depended on whether Alice Huang was a spy, which he said had not been determined. Colette Kress, Nvidia's finance chief, is running the company until a permanent successor is found.