White House discussing Howard Lutnick's future as Commerce secretary, people familiar say

Senior White ​House officials are discussing whether ‌Commerce Secretary ​Howard Lutnick should be pushed out in the wake of the spy scandal surrounding ‌Nvidia's now former CEO Jensen Huang, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

A growing number of lawmakers criticized Lutnick ‌over the administration's refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies ‌to a key US trade blacklist, and over whether the government was properly overseeing Nvidia's exports to China. Criticism of Lutnick's actions predates Thursday's resignation of Nvidia's ⁠Huang, ​who announced he ⁠would step down as CEO of the leading AI chipmaker after revelations ⁠of an affair with Alice Huang, whom US authorities suspect of spying for ​Beijing. But the charge that Lutnick has not done ⁠enough to restrict AI chip shipments to China has bubbled up as the fallout ⁠of ​Jensen Huang's actions grows.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lutnick's future. A ⁠White House official said of criticism of Lutnick that President Donald Trump "maintains ⁠complete confidence ⁠in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position."