Stacey Feinberg, President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, said June 12 that she would work with Luxembourg to improve its screening of foreign investment, especially from China.
Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., introduced a bill June 12 that would impose property-blocking sanctions on Salvadoran officials for alleged human rights abuses, including imprisoning U.S. residents deported by the Trump administration without due process.
Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., reintroduced legislation June 12 aimed at curbing U.S. investment in China. One bill would prohibit Americans from owning the publicly traded securities of U.S.-sanctioned companies, while another would bar index mutual funds from holding Chinese stocks. Both bills, which Ricketts previously introduced in the last Congress (see 2409270021), were referred to the Senate Banking Committee.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led a bill June 12 that would repeal a 2019 law that sanctioned Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime for war crimes.
David Peters, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement (see 2504300061), said June 12 that he would “aggressively” enforce U.S. export controls to ensure sensitive American technology doesn’t end up in the hands of adversaries.
The Senate voted June 11 to defeat two resolutions aimed at preventing $3.5 billion in arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., proposed the legislation, citing ethical concerns about President Donald Trump’s ties to both countries (see 2505150069). But Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, opposed the measures, saying “they make arms sales to some of our closest allies in the Middle East about partisan politics.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security, which is seeking a major budget increase in FY 2026 (see 2505020030), would use the funding boost to add hundreds of employees to enhance its compliance and enforcement capabilities, agency head Jeffrey Kessler said June 12.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied June 11 that the Trump administration has agreed to relax controls on chip exports to China in return for China curbing its own restrictions on rare earth exports.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a bill June 10 that would require the State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., co-chairman of the House’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, said June 10 that he plans to reintroduce a bill that would sanction foreign entities and individuals who directly engage in transnational repression.