A member of the House Financial Services and Foreign Affairs committees urged eight federal financial regulators, including the Treasury Department, to refrain from pushing through new rules in the waning days of the Biden administration.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., President-elect Donald Trump’s reported choice to be secretary of state, and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Trump's selection to be national security adviser, have played active roles on export controls and sanctions while serving in Congress.

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is expected to become the committee’s chairman when Republicans take control of the Senate in January, a Senate aide said Nov. 8. As ranking member, Risch has urged the Biden administration to counter China’s material support for Russia’s war machine, curb Chinese purchases of Iranian oil and implement new sanctions on Iranian oil (see 2407300033). The current chairman, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., is retiring from the Senate.

Sen. George Helmy, D-N.J., said Nov. 8 that he’s consulting with fellow lawmakers to help him decide whether to support a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to block the sale of more than $20 billion in U.S. military equipment to Israel.

Six Democratic and Republican senators urged the Biden administration last week to again designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), citing the Yemen-based group’s attacks on commercial ships, U.S. forces deployed overseas and Israel, and its obstruction of humanitarian aid deliveries to Yemeni civilians.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., introduced a resolution last week urging the Biden administration to pause further transfers or sales of U.S.-made fighter jets to Turkey. Titus criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for making statements threatening Israel and supporting the terrorist group Hamas in its war on Israel. The measure was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The State Department formally notified Congress in January that it approved Turkey’s request to buy 40 new F-16s and modernize 79 existing ones for a total of $23 billion (see 2401290067).

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Nov. 6 he’s pleased the U.K. is reportedly preparing to reimpose sanctions on Iran for violating its nuclear weapons-related obligations. McCaul said the snapback of U.N. sanctions on Iran is "vital" now because the mechanism that authorizes them is set to expire.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last week to explain whether the U.K.-based consulting firm, which has a large presence in the U.S., has provided consulting services for China-based clients that were on the Defense Department’s 1260H list of Chinese military companies, the Treasury Department’s Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List or the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Rubio included his question in a letter raising concerns about PwC’s ties to China. PwC had no immediate comment on the letter.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged the Commerce Department Nov. 5 to investigate whether China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) violated U.S. export controls.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, again urged the Biden administration to end delays that he said are slowing shipments of bombs and more than 10 other weapons sales to Israel.