Senate Commerce Advances Raimondo Despite GOP Huawei Concerns

The Wednesday vote was likely the last committee activity with Republicans in control, after Senate leaders announced an agreement to organize the 50-50 chamber that will hand gavels to Democrats. “I expect that we will have a passing of the gavel very, very soon” to lead Commerce Committee Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington, said lead Republican Roger Wicker of Mississippi just before chamber leaders’ announcement of the power-sharing deal. Commerce originally planned to vote Wednesday on committee rules and budget matters, along with Raimondo’s nomination, but delayed those matters while leaders finalized the organizing resolution.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he expected the chamber to vote on the organizing resolution Wednesday, but it hadn’t been scheduled that afternoon. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is expected to take over the Communications Subcommittee gavel as part of the leadership shift (see 2101190001).

Wicker was among the Commerce Republicans who voted to advance Raimondo but said during the meeting he remains “concerned" about her “reluctance to state unequivocally that she intends to keep Huawei" on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s entity list. “Keeping Huawei on this list is important for the security of our networks and I urge" Raimondo and President Joe Biden’s administration “to make its position clear,” Wicker said.

All parties on BIS’ entity list, including Huawei, are there “because they pose a risk to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests,” Raimondo said in written responses to follow-up questions from Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and other Republicans before the Wednesday vote. “I currently have no reason to believe that entities on those lists should not be there,” she said. If confirmed, she “will not hesitate to encourage the use of the Entity List, the Military End User List, and other appropriate tools within the scope of Commerce authorities to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.”

Telecom equipment “made by untrusted vendors is a threat to the security of the U.S. and our allies,” Raimondo responded to a question from Cruz and other Republicans. “We will ensure that American telecommunications networks do not use equipment from untrusted vendors and will work with allies to secure their telecommunications networks and make investments to expand the production of telecommunications equipment by trusted U.S. and allied companies.”

“Huawei’s ties to China’s military, human right abuses, and theft of intellectual property have rightly been a source of bipartisan concern, regulatory action, and legislation” in the U.S. “and among U.S. partners and allies,” Raimondo said. “I also am fully aware of and support the provisions of the” FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and Secure and Trusted Telecom Networks Act “that contain restrictions on Huawei.” She would work with other federal agencies to “ensure that administration policies and actions related [to] Huawei reflect their national security concerns" and judgments.

Cruz, one of the three Republicans who opposed Raimondo, pressed her during a January confirmation hearing on her Huawei views (see 2101260063). His office didn’t comment on whether he will place a hold on Raimondo over his concerns. That would be unlikely to significantly hold up her confirmation, because Senate Democrats could overcome it by a simple majority vote. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, another of Raimondo’s GOP opponents, said in a Fox News opinion piece the nominee backs “doing business” with China, which “wants to see America lose.” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., also voted against Raimondo.