Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott asked former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to testify publicly about national security concerns involving the chipmaker and warned that the committee could subpoena him.
Scott also requested testimony from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as lawmakers examine allegations that advanced American chips were diverted to China.
The South Carolina Republican asked Huang to appear on Dec. 3 and Lutnick on Dec. 10, setting separate dates for voluntary testimony in letters sent Thursday.
He cited the committee’s authority over export controls and its responsibility for overseeing how the government enforces restrictions on sensitive technology.
In the letter to Huang, Scott said the committee was prepared to use “all tools at our disposal, including subpoenas” if he declined to appear voluntarily.
Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive U.S. technology.
I am requesting that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testify before the Senate Banking Committee.
The American people deserve… pic.twitter.com/Xu1kiNzkhW
— Senator Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) November 13, 2026
The chairman announced the requests on X, where he described the reports as raising serious concerns about national security and the protection of American technology.
The letter to Lutnick centered on the Commerce Department’s role in issuing and enforcing rules governing advanced semiconductor exports.
The chairman called the secretary’s testimony essential to the committee’s oversight of those restrictions.
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Huang resigned Thursday amid scrutiny of his reported romantic relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at the Singapore-based company Megaspeed.
American officials have examined allegations that the company helped divert Nvidia chips to China.
In a companywide email reported by Axios, the former chief executive took responsibility for the affair. He told employees he had been unfaithful to his wife and acknowledged the harm his actions caused her and their children.
The former CEO offered no excuse for the affair in the email and told employees he was “deeply sorry” for his conduct.
U.S. authorities have suspected Alice Huang of ties to Chinese intelligence, but Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday that the Justice Department had reached no conclusion about whether she was a spy.
China denied she was involved in espionage, and Reuters reported it was unable to reach her for comment.
Three Republican House committee chairmen sent a second request Thursday for transcribed interviews behind closed doors with Jensen Huang on Dec. 1 and Nvidia General Counsel Tim Teter on Dec. 2.
Those lawmakers warned that subpoenas could follow and sought testimony from Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler, whose office oversees sensitive technology exports.
Separately, Huang agreed Thursday to testify about the reported affair before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its select committees by Thanksgiving.
Three senior Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee sent Lutnick a letter Monday asking him to halt exports of advanced AI chips.
They sought to establish whether Commerce had been briefed about the security concerns and, if so, how it had responded.
The Democrats also asked for an explanation if the department had knowingly permitted exports after receiving credible warnings.
The lawmakers drew a distinction between whether the department received a briefing and whether it went ahead with exports despite what it had been told.
Axios reported that Lutnick was sent a classified memo about the relationship and the security concerns it raised.
The New York Times first reported on the memo, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio drafted as a warning about the relationship.
Commerce has reportedly resisted pressure from other agencies to add Megaspeed to a U.S. trade blacklist.
Department officials have also faced questions about whether an inquiry into the company stalled after Nvidia’s general counsel contacted Commerce.
Politico reported that senior White House officials had discussed whether Lutnick should remain in his job.
The requests for testimony have come from lawmakers in both parties, including a Republican on the Banking Committee and Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Indiana Sen. Jim Banks said on Fox News Thursday that Lutnick appeared to have “used loopholes to allow some of these chip sales to occur” despite President Donald Trump’s direction to prevent them.
oh boy — hardcore MAGA Sen. Jim Banks throws Lutnick under the bus for the Nvidia scandal pic.twitter.com/6TgRGHFbvg
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 12, 2026
The senator urged both men to testify and said members of both parties on the committee had questions about how the situation was allowed to continue.
Banks pointed to the GAIN AI Act, which he sponsored with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The legislation would have given American companies first access to advanced AI chips before chipmakers could sell them to China or other countries of concern.
The bill’s full name is the Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence Act. Nvidia opposed the proposal in 2025, arguing it would restrict competition, according to Reuters.
Banks said lawmakers had spent two years pushing to prevent the highest-end American chips from reaching China.
He called for Lutnick to testify as soon as possible and argued that Congress had been trying to stop the very kinds of sales he believed Commerce had allowed.
Trump weighed in on Nvidia’s leadership Thursday, shortly after Huang’s resignation was announced. In a post on Truth Social, he recommended former Apple CEO Tim Cook as the chipmaker’s next chief executive.
The president wrote that Huang “has done a fantastic job” and described Cook as the only person to take his place. His post closed with “A Legend replaces a Legend!”
Cook ran Apple from 2011 to 2026. He now serves as executive chairman of Apple’s board.
