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House lawmakers on Tuesday grilled the Trump administration official tasked with overseeing the country’s export controls, pressing him on the White House’s track record on advanced AI chip sales.
Jeffrey Kessler, who serves as head of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss the bureau’s budget request for fiscal year 2027.
The Trump administration is asking for an additional $215 million in funding for BIS to hire new law enforcement officers. Kessler argued Tuesday that his enforcement unit is “overburdened,” saying he could hire more than 300 new officers with the boost.
But he faced heavy scrutiny from Democrats, as well as a couple Republicans, over the administration’s handling of key AI technology.
“I’ve been deeply concerned by the Trump administration’s mismanagement of export controls,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), who serves as ranking member on the committee.
“Rather than treating export controls as one of our most important national security tools, the president has turned them into a bargaining chip in broader negotiation with China,” he continued.
Trump faced sharp pushback from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle last August, when he agreed to grant export licenses to two major American chipmakers, Nvidia and AMD, in exchange for a cut of their revenue.
Meeks also raised concerns about the lack of new export rules on China and Russia and the lack of new additions to the bureau’s restricted entity list.
“That raises an obvious question: Why would the Congress drastically increased the budget for an agency that has failed to fully use the authorities it already has?” Meeks said, adding, “The bottom line is simple — BIS is not meeting its mission, as I can see it.”
Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) pressed Kessler on whether he had discussions with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff about the decision to allow advanced chip sales to an Emirati AI firm last year.
The exchange turned tense, as the BIS chief declined to comment on such discussions.
“You are evading the answer, sir,” Keating said. “Why are you evading the answer? Why are you evading the answer? Could it be the conflict of interest in there with Witkoff and World Liberty Financial and the Trump administration, which the president personally benefited by? Could it be that? Could it be a fear? Are you afraid to give an answer, sir?”
The Trump administration’s decision to give the United Arab Emirates (UAE) access to advanced AI chips faced scrutiny due to its proximity to an investment deal between World Liberty Financial and another Emirati firm.
World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture launched by Trump, Witkoff and their sons in 2024, unveiled a stablecoin in March 2025. In early May, the Emirati firm MGX invested $2 billion in the crypto exchange Binance using the company’s dollar-backed digital token.
Both the Binance investment and the UAE chip deal, announced just weeks later, involved companies tied to an Emirati royal, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Wall Street Journal later reported that Tahnoon took a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial in January 2025.
Some Republicans also put pressure on Kessler on Tuesday. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) expressed frustration about the BIS chief’s response to a question about the handling of a potential loophole in chip exports earlier this year.
“This is multiple conversations that we have had that is just a fricking circle that you talk in, and I’m sorry, but this is unacceptable,” Huizenga said.
Rep. Darrel Issa (R-Calif.) separately raised concerns about the pace at which BIS is responding to export licensing applications. While he described the bureau’s average response time as “laudable,” Issa suggested some major companies are facing lengthy wait times or not hearing back at all.
Kessler argued his goal at BIS is “to stop the rubber stamp licenses that involve serious national security entities,” pointing the finger at the prior administration for approving “thousands” of applications.
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