Senate Passes Bill To Crack Down On Smuggling Of U.S. Chips To China
The U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation this week to establish a whistleblower reward program to fight illegal exports of semiconductors.
The bill has been forwarded to the U.S. House of Representatives for action.
“I look forward to working with our colleagues in the House to get this important legislation through Congress and to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law,” said South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, who lead the bill.
In April 2025, Round sponsored the Stop Stealing our Chips Act, S. 1473, with U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) as the lead cosponsor.
If signed into law, the bill would amend the Export Control Reform Act to establish a whistleblower reward program at the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the U.S. Commerce Department to boost reporting of illegal exports and to halt the flow of American-made semiconductors smuggled into China.
“I am pleased that the Stop Stealing our Chips Act has passed the Senate,” Sen. Rounds said.
“The United States has taken extensive measures to prevent American-made semiconductors from falling into the wrong hands, particularly China; however, China continues to smuggle these chips into their country,” Rounds added.
As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to accelerate, he pointed out that this development creates “a grave national security concern.”
“Our legislation would strengthen BIS’s export control enforcement by rewarding whistleblowers with credible information on illegal actions to come forward,” said Sen. Rounds.
According to a bill summary provided by Rounds’ staff, the legislation would require BIS to establish a public, secure platform for whistleblower submissions of reports, create a fund to pay whistleblower rewards and operate the program, funded by fines from export control violations, and provide confidentiality guarantees and anti-retaliation protections to protect whistleblowers.
The law would require that whistleblowers who provide original information that leads to the imposition of fines on offenders would be eligible for between 10 percent and 30 percent of the fines collected, with exceptions for known terrorists and criminals and federal workers operating within the extent of their employment.
Whistleblowers should receive status updates every 30 days, and credible reports should result in formal inquiries within 60 days.
Any remaining money from the fines would be remitted to the U.S. Treasury, the report states.
This comes after President Donald Trump’s high-stakes summit in China earlier this month.
Trump announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to purchase 200 Boeing jets during their high-level meeting in Beijing.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump described his discussions with Xi as “very good” and stated that the commitment from China exceeded Boeing’s expectations.
Terms of the announced agreement, such as the type of aircraft ordered and delivery timelines, were not disclosed, Fox Business noted.
Trump arrived in China on Wednesday with a delegation of prominent American business leaders to meet with Chinese officials and executives.
The trip marks Trump’s first visit to the country since 2017 and occurs amid rising tensions over trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, and the repercussions of the war with Iran.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg was among the executives in the delegation. He recently stated that the trip represents “a meaningful opportunity” for the aircraft maker.
Although Ortberg declined to specify the number of aircraft being discussed during a recent analyst call, he expressed strong confidence that if Trump and Xi reach an agreement, it will likely include some aircraft orders.
Some reports noted that China initially wanted to buy 500 of the 737 Max aircraft from Boeing.
“I am proud to announce the site of the NATIONAL GARDEN OF AMERICAN HEROES. This magnificent exhibition of statues will be located in West Potomac Park, which we are transforming into one of the World’s most beautiful public spaces,” Trump began.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
