The White House is considering removing Howard Lutnick amid the Nvidia espionage scandal (sources)

Senior White House officials are discussing whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be removed from office amid the espionage scandal involving Alice Huang, according to Reuters. The information comes after mounting criticism of how the Donald Trump administration handled Nvidia chip exports to China.

Several lawmakers accuse Lutnick of failing to sufficiently restrict shipments of advanced technology to Beijing and say the administration did not add dozens of Chinese companies considered national security risks to the trade blacklist. They include artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek and memory chipmaker CXMT.

The scandal intensified after Jensen Huang announced his resignation as Nvidia’s chief executive. The decision was announced Thursday, amid reports of his extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, whom U.S. authorities suspect of spying on behalf of Beijing.

The White House previously said that President Donald Trump retained “full confidence” in Lutnick. The Commerce Department and the White House did not immediately comment on reports concerning the secretary’s future.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked Lutnick to explain gaps in the export control system and requested the preservation of all documents related to Nvidia shipments to China. The United States has not added any companies to the trade blacklist since October 2025, the longest pause in the past decade.