BIS Staff Exits Worry Senator
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, said March 4 he’s concerned that the recent departure of key personnel at the Bureau of Industry and Security could impede the agency’s ability to prevent China from obtaining sensitive U.S. technology.
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BIS is “supposed to help us analyze China tech. It’s supposed to be the place that analyzes what Huawei is doing, how we compete in AI,” Warner told Export Compliance Daily. “We don’t know yet” if the staff exodus has affected the bureau’s ability to do its work, “but I wouldn’t be surprised.”
While it’s unclear whether any BIS employees have been fired, at least three senior career officials have left government or plan to leave soon, and more career officials are expected to exit in the coming weeks (see 2502280006 and 2502270009).
Warner also is concerned that President Donald Trump may be “taking a lighter hand with China” despite promising a get-tough approach. Trump is “clearly siding with the authoritarians,” such as by voting with Russia on Ukraine resolutions at the U.N., Warner said.