House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced Jan. 5 that he has appointed Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to replace Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., as ranking member of the House Select Committee on China.
SoftBank, a Japan-based investment management firm, and DigitalBridge, a global digital infrastructure investment firm, will need approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and several other regulators before they can complete their merger, DigitalBridge said in its latest SEC filing. Along with CFIUS, they will also need approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority, and the EU under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation. SoftBank plans to buy DigitalBridge for about $4 billion, according to SoftBank's Dec. 29 press release.
President Donald Trump has ordered a U.S.-based company owned by a Chinese national to unwind its April 2024 purchase of semiconductor assets from an American technology firm, saying the deal threatens U.S. national security.
House and Senate negotiators unveiled a compromise FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill Jan. 5 that would provide $235 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $44 million, or 23%, from the FY 2025 enacted level.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., on Dec. 18 introduced a companion to a Senate bill 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.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., on Dec. 18 reintroduced a companion to a Senate bill that would require the president to identify and sanction those responsible for torture, abductions and other human rights abuses against Southern Mongolians in China.
The recent introduction of several bills to restrict foreign sales of computing chips shows that lawmakers are eager to legislate on the issue but haven't yet reached agreement on how to do so, Morgan Lewis trade lawyer Mike Huneke said in an interview.
Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Yvette Clarke, both New York Democrats, introduced a bill this month to prohibit most U.S. exports of natural gas.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led a group of 27 congressional Democrats in urging the Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General on Dec. 17 to investigate whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has engaged in a conflict of interest by advocating for AI data center projects that reportedly benefit his family business, financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
The Energy Department plans to examine a recent congressional report that says many DOE-funded research projects have been conducted with Chinese entities the U.S. government has placed on restricted lists for their ties to China’s military or role in human rights abuses, a department spokesperson said Dec. 22.