House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Feb. 15 that he has issued a subpoena to the Commerce Department for documents relating to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s recent 90-day pause in issuing new commercial firearms export licenses.

The House of Representatives on Feb. 15 passed a bill that would reverse the Biden administration’s recent pause on pending decisions on liquefied natural gas exports. The bill received 224 yea votes -- 215 Republicans and nine Democrats -- and 200 nay votes, all from Democrats. The vote came a day after the administration said it “strongly opposes” the bill (see 2402140005). The legislation faces an uphill battle in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The proposed Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, which would use sanctions and anti-money laundering measures to counter the illicit fentanyl supply chain (see 2401110042), passed the Senate Feb. 13 as part of a $95 billion national security supplemental appropriations bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. However, the fate of the fentanyl legislation is unclear, as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., criticized the Senate supplemental bill for failing to include funding for homeland border security.

Four lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to consider placing Chinese biotech company WuXi AppTec and its subsidiaries on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, the Treasury Department’s Non-Specially Designated Nationals Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List and the Defense Department’s Chinese Military Companies List. They said the firm has close ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has been involved in perpetrating the CCP's human rights violations.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, announced Feb. 10 that he won't run for re-election this year. Gallagher said it is time for him to return to private life after serving four terms in the House. As the committee's top Republican, Gallagher led probes on a range of China trade issues, including a report in December that called on the U.S. to impose stronger export controls against China (see 2312120050) and revoke the country's permanent normal trade relations status (see 2312120004).

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said Feb. 10 that he welcomes news that United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence firm Group 42 Holdings (G42) has sold its stake in Chinese companies.

A task force created by the House Foreign Affairs Committee has released a report proposing a series of changes to speed up the delay-prone Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process.

For Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the future of U.S. trade policy is to make climate a trade policy priority, work with global allies to set digital trade standards and deepen the U.S. trading relationship with the global south.

More than 150 House Republicans urged President Joe Biden in a Feb. 4 letter to reverse his temporary pause in pending decisions on liquefied natural gas exports, saying the moratorium will hurt the U.S. economy and undercut efforts to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian energy. The letter was led by Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Twenty-six Republican senators sent a similar letter to Biden in late January (see 2401260070).

The House Foreign Affairs Committee late Feb. 6 approved a bill that would make inflation-based adjustments to the dollar thresholds that trigger congressional notification of arms sales.