On Senate Floor, Warren Raises Concerns about Donald Trump’s Potentially Muzzling Department of Justice on Risks of Sending H200 Chips to China
“I am deeply concerned that Donald Trump will target the work at the Department of Justice in a cynical attempt to hide the truth from the American people.”
“And in case Donald Trump directs his Department of Justice to take down the public evidence or to cover it up, I’m going to read into the Senate record exactly how senior law enforcement officials warned about the dangers of allowing these chips to power the development of cutting-edge technology in China.”
Washington, D.C. – Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, raised concerns about Trump potentially muzzling his own Department of Justice (DOJ) on the national security risks of China’s access to NVIDIA’s H200 chips. Warren put into the Congressional Record statements from senior DOJ law enforcement officials about the danger of these chips’ falling into China’s hands, so Donald Trump cannot cover up their stark warnings.
Warren also called for NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to testify publicly in front of Congress about this dangerous decision, and will urge Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to rein in the Administration’s bad deal that will hurt American economic and national security.
Below are Ranking Member Warren’s remarks as delivered:
Senator Warren: Thank you, Mr. President.
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced he will greenlight NVIDIA selling H200 chips to China.
Now, these are advanced chips that the Chinese military has been after for years. Trump’s own Department of Justice has called them the “building blocks of AI superiority.”
And just hours before Trump’s announcement, the Department of Justice announced a crackdown on a sophisticated trafficking network that allegedly smuggled $50 million worth of these chips to China. Why? Because they know that China is gaining access to these chips and that poses a serious threat to our technological leadership and national security.
So why did the President make this bad deal that sells out the American economy and sells out American national security?
It’s simple: in the Trump Administration, money talks.
And NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang, knows it. Mr. Huang understands that in this Administration, being able to cozy up to Donald Trump might be the most important corporate CEO skill of all.
Mr. Huang paid for a $1-million-a-plate dinner to be with the President.
Mr. Huang’s company has donated to the President’s ballroom.
And Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s former company, now run by his son, stands to make loads of money if Nvidia’s stock surges.
Those are just the most obvious possible reasons to cut this deal. And who knows what else Mr. Huang might have done behind closed doors to persuade President Trump and Secretary Lutnick into making this dangerous concession.
The American public deserves answers. Mr. Huang should be brought in front of Congress to testify under oath. And he should be joined by Secretary Lutnick and every other Trump Administration official involved in this decision.
Congress does not need to stand by helplessly. Both Republicans and Democrats understand the risks here, and we should pass bipartisan legislation that reins in this Administration as soon as possible.
The Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National AI Act, called the GAIN Act, that Senator Banks and I introduced would prohibit Nvidia from shipping advanced chips to China while American universities, American start-ups, and American small businesses are waiting in line to buy the company’s chips.
Senator Ricketts and Senator Coons have introduced another bill that Senator Banks and I support. It’s called the SAFE Chips Act, and it would prohibit the President from greenlighting advanced AI chip sales to China.
Republicans and Democrats have legislation ready to go and we should get this done before it is too late. Senator Thune should schedule either or both bills for a vote immediately.
Here’s another thing that Democrats and Republicans in Congress need to keep an eye on: Will Donald Trump muzzle his own Justice Department because he does not want Americans to know that he is selling out our national security?
Will Donald Trump order the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas to dismiss the criminal cases that they announced just this week as part of the crackdown on chip smuggling?
Will Donald Trump fire those Justice Department officials for exposing the national security risks of the deal that Donald Trump just cut?
Will Donald Trump tell his Attorney General to drop all investigations into these national security concerns and turn a blind eye to how the Chinese military could use these chips to train weapon systems that could endanger American lives?
I am deeply concerned that Donald Trump will target the work at the Department of Justice in a cynical attempt to hide the truth from the American people.
And in case Donald Trump directs his Department of Justice to take down the public evidence or to cover it up, I’m going to read into the Senate record exactly how senior law enforcement officials warned about the dangers of allowing these chips to power the development of cutting-edge technology in China.
Here’s what the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas had to say. And I’m going to quote this:
“Operation Gatekeeper has exposed a sophisticated smuggling network that threatens our Nation’s security by funneling cutting-edge AI technology to those who would use it against American interests.
These chips are the building blocks of AI superiority and are integral to modern military applications.
The country that controls these chips will control AI technology; the country that controls AI technology will control the future.
The Southern District of Texas will aggressively prosecute anyone who attempts to compromise America’s technological edge.”
That is what the U.S. Attorney – Donald Trump’s own U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas – had to say about the chips that NVIDIA has just been permitted by Donald Trump to put into the hands of the Chinese.
And here’s what the Assistant Attorney General for National Security at Trump’s Department of Justice had to say. Again, Trump’s own Assistant Attorney General for National Security:
“The United States has long emphasized the importance of innovation and is responsible for an incredible amount of cutting-edge technology, such as the advanced computer chips that make modern AI possible.
This advantage isn’t free but rather the result of our engineers’ and scientists’ hard work and sacrifice.
The National Security Division, along with our partners, will vigorously enforce our export-control laws and protect this edge.”
The President’s most basic duty is to protect the economic and national security of the American people. And instead, President Trump is bowing to foreign dictators like Xi Jinping, and selling out our national security to billionaire corporate interests that pay for special White House dinners and a gold-plated ballroom.
Never before has a President and a tech CEO so brazenly conspired against the interests of the American people. Congress has a responsibility to stop it – and stop it now.
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