Trump Backs Huang Amid Alleged Spy Affair Scrutiny, Congress Returns After GOP Election Disaster: Live Updates

Congress returned to a changed Washington on Monday after Democrats trounced Republicans in the midterm elections, according to the Associated Press via WKTV. It is the start of a six-week lame-duck sprint as Republicans try to wrap up work before Democrats take charge in January. Newly elected lawmakers arrived on Capitol Hill for orientation sessions, while jubilant Democrats appeared emboldened by the sweep of power.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he is eager to litigate the policy choices he and President Donald Trump made in Iran and Venezuela, and announced he would hold a press conference on Tuesday, his first in over 180 days, on the looming impeachment threat. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) read articles of impeachment against Hegseth on the House floor Monday, arguing Hegseth “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.” Massie said on X that “the question is whether he committed impeachable acts, and the answer is yes, eight times.” HuffPost reported Massie plans to force a vote on articles of impeachment over the war in Iran.

Nvidia shares fell 5% after the chip maker opened an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort,” according to WKTV citing AP. Huang admitted to an extramarital affair but did not name anyone. The New York Times reported that Huang had a close relationship with a Chinese citizen accused of smuggling chips into China. HuffPost, citing the New York Times, said U.S. intelligence officials now believe Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, with whom Huang was having an affair, to be a Chinese spy. China denied any spy plot targeting Huang and called it a smear campaign against Beijing. Huang had lobbied President Trump to loosen chip sales restrictions to China.

A Commerce Department investigation into how Nvidia’s AI chips were making their way to China was abruptly halted late last year after Nvidia’s lawyers asked Commerce about the investigation by citing Jeff Kessler, a top Commerce appointee who reports directly to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, HuffPost reported. The investigation focused on a Singaporean data center company called Megaspeed that was potentially shuttling chips to China. Commerce suspended the investigation amid concerns Kessler might have jeopardized the case, which the New York Times reports was transferred to the Justice Department.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Monday he would work hard to talk to every member about delivering on the change voters chose, adding “I guess we’ll find out next Wednesday” when asked about a leadership vote. A survey by progressive organization Our Revolution found that 52% of respondents want different House leadership than Jeffries, while 29% said it depends on whether he delivers a progressive agenda.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump launched the war against Iran even if it wasn’t “necessarily popular” to safeguard the world from the country’s nuclear ambitions. Rubio would not comment directly on the Republican wipeout in the midterms.

Palestinian American writer Ahmed Moor launched a campaign Monday for Sen. John Fetterman’s Pennsylvania seat, which is up in 2028, HuffPost reported. Moor, born in Rafah, supports withdrawing U.S. military aid to Israel and imposing sanctions until Palestinians “have equal rights in that country.” He called his race an “uphill battle.”