House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., both said Dec. 12 that lawmakers continue to seek a compromise on legislation to restrict U.S. outbound investment in China.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who opposed passage of a law banning TikTok in the U.S. unless China’s ByteDance divests the popular social media application, said Dec. 10 he is “still hopeful” the U.S. Supreme Court will rule the measure unconstitutional.

Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., co-chair of the House Select Committee on China’s Critical Minerals Policy Working Group, has announced plans to introduce a bill that would restrict exports of two reusable materials: "black mass," a metal-rich mixture that comes from used lithium-ion batteries, and "swarf," metal debris produced during magnet manufacturing.

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who is slated to become chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January (see 2412100008), said Dec. 10 that he envisions a greater role for the panel in overseeing State Department operations.

House Republicans have chosen Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the next Congress.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., introduced a wide-ranging Hong Kong bill Dec. 9 that would, among other things, reauthorize the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act for five years.

The newly released FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) calls for the executive branch to take several actions related to export controls, including a review of China’s efforts to evade U.S. restrictions, and an assessment of Japan’s possible participation in the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) security partnership.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the U.N. Security Council Dec. 6 to expand the arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfur region to cover all of the war-torn country. “While I am grateful the Security Council recently unanimously decided to extend the embargo until September 2025, combatants on both sides of the conflict continue to receive a steady flow of weapons and ammunition from all corners of the country,” Murphy said. The warring parties then “use these weapons to continue their brutal campaigns and terrorize innocent civilians.” Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., made a similar recommendation in November (see 2411250026).

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, and eight other committee Republicans urged the Biden administration Dec. 5 to step up implementation and enforcement of sanctions on Iran’s oil sector to deprive Tehran of funding for terrorism and nuclear weapons development.

Western countries should impose additional sanctions on Belarus for supplying Russia’s war machine, helping Moscow evade sanctions and indoctrinating Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, three witnesses told the congressionally led U.S. Helsinki Commission Dec. 5.