White House Discusses Pushing Out Howard Lutnick as Nvidia Fallout Grows

Howard Lutnick's job is suddenly in question. Senior White House officials are discussing whether the Commerce Secretary should be pushed out amid the Nvidia spy scandal, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the situation. The discussions come as lawmakers from both parties sharpen their criticism of Lutnick's handling of chip export controls — the rules at the heart of the scandal that forced Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang to resign.

Earlier on Thursday, a White House official said 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 immediately respond to requests for comment after Reuters reported the discussions.

The blacklist that never grew

The case against Lutnick, as his critics present it, is about what his department did not do. The administration has faced growing lawmaker criticism over its refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies to a key trade blacklist, and over its oversight of Nvidia exports.

Reuters reported in June that the administration had held off adding DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other companies flagged as national security risks to the blacklist. No companies have been added since October 2025 — the longest stretch between new postings in more than a decade. Critics say the gap left the door open for the very shipments now at the centre of the scandal.

The Wall Street Journal reported that finger-pointing inside the administration has made Lutnick a primary target, because of his efforts to stall chip-export restrictions, his longstanding relationship with Huang, and pre-existing tensions with other officials. The Journal also reported that the Commerce Department had been investigating Megaspeed — the Singapore-based cloud company at the heart of the affair allegations — for potentially violating chip-export rules since 2024, but stopped short of blacklisting it.

Lawmakers split on his fate

Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, told CNN he did not know yet whether Lutnick should lose his job, and urged him to answer questions publicly. Senator Elizabeth Warren said Lutnick and Under Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler "must explain why they have not closed export control loopholes" that allowed advanced chips to reach China.

Representative Brian Mast, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, said Congress needs to investigate the Commerce Department's role in approving chip exports — but added that he has confidence in Lutnick. Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has said he wants Lutnick to testify and blamed him for letting Huang get close to the president.

Who Lutnick is

Lutnick is a Wall Street veteran who co-chaired Trump's transition team and has been friends with the president for three decades. He appeared as a guest on Trump's television show The Apprentice in 2008. That long personal history is part of why his position is so closely watched: removing a Commerce Secretary is a policy decision, but removing one of Trump's oldest allies would be a political signal as well.

What happens next

For now, Lutnick stays — backed publicly by the White House, questioned privately by its officials, and summoned to testify by the Senate Banking Committee. Whether "complete confidence" survives the coming hearings, and the questions about the blacklist, will decide whether he is still Commerce Secretary when they end.

Sources

• Reuters
• The Straits Times
• Arab News
• Al Arabiya
• South China Morning Post
• Times of India
• The Wall Street Journal
• CNN
• Innopark IT — Lutnick Stalled Trump's Nvidia Chip Crackdown on China
• Innopark IT — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns; Colette Kress Named Interim CEO
• Innopark IT — Nvidia Jensen Huang China Chip Spy Scandal Timeline Explained