Congressional GOP Infighting

Axios reports that top pro‑Trump influencers, including Laura Loomer and White House crypto/AI adviser David Sacks, are publicly attacking House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R‑Fla.) over his AI OVERWATCH Act (H.R. 6875), which would put Congress in the driver’s seat on regulating U.S. AI‑chip sales to China. Sacks boosted a post saying Mast’s bill would undercut President Trump’s authority; Loomer called it “pro‑China sabotage disguised as oversight” and urged followers to “kill the bill.” Mast, who says the legislation is still in committee, fired back that his job is not to be a “yes‑man” to Sacks or Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and insists he is trying to tighten controls on China, not help it. A close White House ally accused Mast of acting like “Huawei’s Employee of the Month,” reflecting how Trump’s team is framing the fight as an effort to strip the president of foreign‑policy power, while Nvidia defended U.S. firms competing for “vetted and approved” business abroad. The dust‑up exposes a widening rift inside the GOP over how hard to clamp down on U.S. tech exports to China and whether Congress should rein in Trump’s unilateral control over AI and semiconductor policy.