White House Weighs Lutnick's Exit After Nvidia Export Scandal

Senior White House officials are discussing whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be pushed out over the Nvidia export scandal, two people familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday, Nov. 12. The talk of removal comes as lawmakers from both parties press Commerce over its refusal to blacklist dozens of Chinese companies and its handling of Nvidia's chip sales to China.

The White House is not yet moving. A White House official said President Donald Trump "maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position." Axios reported the same day that Trump intends to keep Lutnick despite the department's inaction on Nvidia. Neither the White House nor the Commerce Department answered Reuters' requests for comment, and no decision has been reported.

Why is the Entity List at the center of this?

The core complaint is the Commerce blacklist that cuts companies off from US technology. Reuters reported in June that the administration held off adding Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, memory maker CXMT and more than 100 other companies flagged as national security risks. Nothing has joined the list since October 2025 — the longest gap in more than a decade.

Megaspeed, the Singapore cloud company whose former executive Alice Huang sits at the center of the Nvidia affair, is absent as well. US officials suspect Alice Huang of spying for Beijing. China denies the charge.

The friction has reached the Situation Room. Axios reported on Nov. 11 that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Lutnick there over why Megaspeed had not been listed, and that Lutnick and his deputies resisted crackdowns on chip diversion that Trump had already approved. Axios also reported that Lutnick received a highly classified memo on Jensen Huang's ties to Alice Huang before Trump's May trip to China.

What are the numbers lawmakers are citing?

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons, set to chair the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations committees in January, wrote to Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller demanding they preserve all documents on Nvidia's exports of advanced AI chips to China. Their letter states that Megaspeed has bought more than $4.8 billion of advanced Nvidia AI chips since June 2024.

"Secretary Howard Lutnick and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler must explain why they have not closed export control loopholes," Warren said.

Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrats on the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, wrote separately on Thursday about approvals of Nvidia chip sales to Chinese firms "with concerning links to the Chinese government, military, and sanctioned entities." They called the revenue-sharing arrangement for H200 exports approved in December 2025 "an unconstitutional export tax." Sen. Tom Cotton, the Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged Lutnick to bar CXMT from operating in the United States.

Republicans have stayed measured. House Foreign Affairs chair Brian Mast said Congress must scrutinize how Commerce approves chip sales, though he retains confidence in Lutnick. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told Politico that Lutnick must answer questions about approving advanced chip sales to China. Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan said it would be "helpful" for Lutnick to testify publicly, CNBC reported.

What would a change at Commerce actually move?

The department's Bureau of Industry and Security decides export licences and Entity List additions. It is also finalizing a rule to stop Chinese AI companies from using advanced chips remotely through data centers in other countries. Congress, meanwhile, is weighing defense-bill provisions that would give legislators a veto over chip licences.

Lutnick's position is not purely professional. A former Cantor Fitzgerald chief executive who co-chaired Trump's transition, he counts a 30-year friendship with the president, Reuters noted. Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia CEO on Thursday; the company gave no reason.

The coming weeks will show whether that friendship outweighs a stalled blacklist, a $4.8 billion chip trail and a Senate about to change hands.