Bessent Blames Commerce for Megaspeed Delay as Advisers Discuss Ousting Lutnick

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on November 13, 2026 that several agencies wanted Megaspeed on the export blacklist for months, and that the Commerce Department failed to follow through. "Commerce has the pen," he told CNBC. CNN reports that some of President Trump's advisers have begun discussing whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be dismissed. The White House said Trump "maintains complete confidence" in him. No dismissal has happened.

This is the latest turn in the fallout from Jensen Huang's resignation as Nvidia CEO, which followed reports about his relationship with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang. Our full timeline covers the earlier steps.

TL;DR: what is reported and what is confirmed

What exactly did Bessent say?

According to CNN, Bessent said a wide swath of the administration, including Treasury, State, the Pentagon and the US Trade Representative, favored placing Megaspeed on an export blacklist. He said Commerce, led by Lutnick, did not follow through. "Commerce…has the pen. You would have to ask them about their internal processes," he said. He also suggested the inaction violated directives from Trump.

Yahoo News, reporting on the same interview, quotes him: "Treasury, War, USTR and State were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months." It adds that Bessent said his deputy "had been pushing this for months" with other agencies, and "We have all the authorities that we need. They just need to be implemented."

One detail differs between outlets. CNN quotes Bessent as saying China should not receive Nvidia chips above A100s, calling A100 an entry-level chip. Yahoo quotes the same sentence as saying above H100s. We could not watch the CNBC segment, so we do not know which is right, and the difference changes what the stated policy means. Treat the exact chip line as unresolved.

What is the entity list, and why does it matter?

The entity list is a Commerce Department list of parties that exporters need a license to sell to. CNN says Treasury staffers argued Megaspeed should land on it, and that Commerce has so far refused despite months of concern, according to people familiar with the matter. CNN adds that senior officials, including Lutnick, were briefed months ago about Huang's relationship with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang.

For AI builders, the list matters because it determines who can legally buy accelerators from Nvidia and its server partners. If a Singapore reseller is added, partners must stop sales or seek licenses. That is why a delay is not a procedural footnote: shipments continue while the paperwork waits. See our coverage of how Singapore became a transit hub for restricted Nvidia flows.

Gate with a half-closed lock over a stream of chips, illustrating the Megaspeed entity list debate

What does the Lutnick ouster talk amount to?

CNN's reporting has three layers. First, some advisers, "reeling from the fallout of Huang's resignation", have begun discussing whether Lutnick should be dismissed, according to people familiar with the conversations. Second, Trump has fielded calls from administration officials and outside advisers raising alarm about Lutnick, two additional people said. Third, the White House has stood by him, and sources said it was unclear what Trump might do.

Trump and Lutnick are longtime friends, CNN notes. Discussion is not a decision, and anonymous sourcing is not confirmation. Lutnick has also faced bipartisan scrutiny: Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott asked Huang and Lutnick to testify, and top trade Democrats asked Commerce to preserve records on Nvidia export licenses.

What did Bessent say about Nvidia's own role?

Bessent turned some of the blame toward the company. "The real story here should be: Did Nvidia know their client?" he said, adding that if Nvidia was "selling to what were obviously pass-through shell companies", anyone at the company should be held accountable. He said he expects the board to run a thorough investigation.

That line connects to earlier reporting that Nvidia's general counsel intervened in the Megaspeed probe and that BIS progress paused. It also bears on the board's position after reports of an ouster plan, which we separated into claimed and verified.

How did we get here? A short timeline

1. Months before the scandal broke. According to CNN, senior Trump officials, including Lutnick, were briefed about Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, the Megaspeed executive. Treasury staffers argued for an entity listing; Commerce did not add one.
2. Last week. CNN previously reported a tense Situation Room meeting in which Bessent challenged Lutnick over his department's reluctance. Lutnick did not immediately commit to any specific action, people familiar said. Bessent did not deny the confrontation on CNBC, saying only "We don't repeat conversations in the Situation Room."
3. November 12. Nvidia said Jensen Huang resigned immediately, with Colette Kress as interim CEO.
4. Thursday, before Bessent's comments. The White House issued its statement of complete confidence in Lutnick, and Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott summoned Lutnick and Huang to testify.
5. Friday, November 13. Bessent's CNBC interview and CNN's report on the ouster discussions.

The order matters. The public dispute only began after Huang's resignation turned a technical licensing question into a political one. That is why the same Megaspeed concern that sat in agency queues for months is now a front-page cabinet fight.

Update (November 13, 2026): Lawmakers pile on after Bessent’s CNBC interview

After Bessent’s November 13 CNBC segment, bipartisan lawmakers added public pressure on both Commerce and Nvidia. CNN reports adviser discussions about Lutnick’s future and Bessent’s Megaspeed criticism; Reuters relays Republican Sen. John Curtis saying Lutnick’s reported stalling on export controls raises whether Commerce acts in Americans’ interests. Business Standard, citing the Financial Times, quotes Republican Sen. John Cornyn on accountability: “Heads should roll.” Senate Democrats including Chuck Schumer pressed for briefings and answers on whether export lapses jeopardized security, per congressional coverage that week.

These lines extend the same oversight thread as Tim Scott’s testimony requests and Wyden–Neal’s export inquiry. They do not, by themselves, change export licenses or the entity list.

Reporting on Bloomberg’s tracing of restricted Nvidia hardware into Shanghai-linked facilities — relayed widely on X — is still attribution journalism, not a Commerce finding. We treat chip-location claims as unverified until BIS or Nvidia publish enforcement records. For the Huang resignation context, see our timeline.

What are readers asking?

Does Bessent's account clear Nvidia? No. He said the question is whether Nvidia knew its client, and he called for accountability if it sold to obvious pass-through shell companies. Our earlier reporting on the paused BIS probe describes Bloomberg's claims about chip counts sent to Washington missing about 50,000 units sold through partners; that remains reporting, not a finding.

Can Commerce add Megaspeed overnight? Bessent says the authorities exist and "just need to be implemented." Whether Commerce acts now, and whether a leadership change precedes it, is not known. The department had not commented in the reports we read.

Who else is watching? Congress. Beyond Scott's summons, the Wyden and Neal letter asks Commerce to keep every record on export licenses and semiconductor tariffs, which would matter if the dispute turns into an investigation.

Does this affect chip availability today? Nothing in the reports describes a change in licensing rules. The effect would come only if a listing reaches Megaspeed or the resellers around it.

What is still disputed?

• Alice Huang's role. The spy claim reflects US officials' reported beliefs, and our timeline notes it is disputed inside US intelligence. Congressman Jim Himes said a Gang of Eight briefing did not settle whether she knowingly spied or was a useful idiot.
• Why Commerce did not list Megaspeed. We have only Bessent's account. CNN says it reached out to Commerce for comment, and Yahoo says a Commerce spokesperson did not immediately respond.
• Whether chips actually reached China through Megaspeed. Reports describe examination of whether it helped send advanced chips there. That is not a finding.
• The interagency blame game. Bessent's account is one side of an internal dispute and should be read as such.

What should you watch next?

Three markers will show whether this is noise or a turn in policy. First, whether Commerce publishes a Federal Register notice adding Megaspeed to the entity list, which would be the clearest sign Bessent's push worked. Second, whether Lutnick appears before the Senate Banking Committee, where he would have to explain the department's process on the record. Third, whether Nvidia's board names an investigator or announces findings on what the company knew about its customers.

Any of these can change fast. We will add updates to this post as official statements appear, and we separate on-the-record statements from anonymous sourcing each time.

What this means for what you build or pay

For teams that depend on Nvidia hardware, the near-term risk is regulatory churn: a Megaspeed listing could spread to resellers and cloud partners in Southeast Asia, and a leadership change at Commerce could shift how licenses are handled. If you buy capacity through a third-party cloud, ask your provider where its servers came from and whether it uses Nvidia Cloud Partners under investigation.

For everyone else, this is a case study in how export rules are enforced in practice: by lists and licenses that depend on a few agencies agreeing to act.

Related reading

• Jensen Huang resigns; Colette Kress interim CEO
• Nvidia, Huang and Megaspeed: the full timeline
• Tim Scott calls Huang and Lutnick to Senate Banking
• Nvidia general counsel and the paused BIS probe
• Singapore chip routing and Megaspeed
• Wyden and Neal on Nvidia export licenses
• External: Yahoo News report on Bessent's interview

Details are accurate as of November 13, 2026 and may change as the story develops.