Some House Democrats Push to Scrap the China Select Committee When They Take Control

The bipartisan panel has been one of the most active voices in Congress on export controls for advanced chips, Chinese access to AI technology and investment restrictions, so its fate will shape how Washington oversees technology policy toward China at a time when Nvidia's sales to Chinese buyers are under fresh scrutiny.

California Representative Ami Bera, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, told Semafor that much of the select committee's work duplicated existing panels. "We could do a lot of the work; I think Ways and Means [Committee] could do a lot of the trade policy stuff," he said.

A spokesperson for New York Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on Foreign Affairs, told Semafor the party would follow the incoming speaker's lead on the select committee, but that Foreign Affairs was "well poised to conduct oversight of this administration's China policy."

The current chair, Michigan Republican John Moolenaar, issued a statement last week urging Democrats not to dismantle the panel. Some Democrats want to keep it but widen its remit beyond China, while others worry that closing it over committee turf would hand Republicans an argument given recent China-related controversies. A person familiar with the discussions told Semafor that shutting the panel down or folding it into Foreign Affairs would be "honestly dumb".

The same turf concerns are colouring debate over AI. Semafor reported that some incoming committee leaders have also pushed back on forming a select panel on AI next year, preferring to keep jurisdiction over the technology within their own committees.

At least five groups have written to leaders urging them to reauthorise the China committee in January, according to letters shared with Semafor. They include the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, With Honor Action, the Alliance for Trade Enforcement NOW, the American Mold Builders Association and the Forging Industry Association.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who would have the final say over select panels as speaker, said earlier this week that he would discuss the matter with incoming committee leaders on Wednesday morning.