As I’ve noted, these leadership challenges don’t mean a lot if they don’t include abolishing the filibuster. This afternoon Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who just announced what remains a fairly longshot challenge to Chuck Schumer, says he supports getting rid of it.
“My personal opinion is that we need democracy in the United States Senate and that means allowing ultimately a majority of senators to answer the call of the American people, so that means 51 votes … My personal view has been all along that the filibuster is an anti-democratic — small “d” — provision. It’s not in our Constitution. It was put in there by senators to enhance their power over the power of the people.”
As you can see he’s framing this as his personal view. But that goes without saying. As I explained, a parliamentary leader isn’t a “decider,” as George W. Bush famously put it. He or she steers where their caucus wants to go. So it’s not a matter of him saying I will do this when I’m leader. But him pretty unequivocally supporting it is a big, big deal.
This is just a general observation. When I first started following the NVIDIA scandal, I had the sense that Jensen Huang was either duped by these cut-out companies sending NVIDIA chips (physically or virtually) to China, or perhaps he was beguiled by Alice Huang, the suspected Chinese spy. But it’s very hard to square that basic take with the various reports we’re seeing.
As I’ve noted, these leadership challenges don’t mean a lot if they don’t include abolishing the filibuster. This afternoon Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who just announced what remains a fairly longshot challenge to Chuck Schumer, says he supports getting rid of it.
“My personal opinion is that we need democracy in the United States Senate and that means allowing ultimately a majority of senators to answer the call of the American people, so that means 51 votes … My personal view has been all along that the filibuster is an anti-democratic — small “d” — provision. It’s not in our Constitution. It was put in there by senators to enhance their power over the power of the people.”
As you can see he’s framing this as his personal view. But that goes without saying. As I explained, a parliamentary leader isn’t a “decider,” as George W. Bush famously put it. He or she steers where their caucus wants to go. So it’s not a matter of him saying I will do this when I’m leader. But him pretty unequivocally supporting it is a big, big deal.
This is just a general observation. When I first started following the NVIDIA scandal, I had the sense that Jensen Huang was either duped by these cut-out companies sending NVIDIA chips (physically or virtually) to China, or perhaps he was beguiled by Alice Huang, the suspected Chinese spy. But it’s very hard to square that basic take with the various reports we’re seeing.
The attempt to pin the NVIDIA-Huang spy scandal on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is galloping forward. Earlier today Treasury Scott Bessent went on CNBC and squarely laid the blame on Lutnick for slow-rolling and loosely enforcing export controls on NVIDIA chips. This is no different from the accusations we’ve been hearing about from unnamed sources in numerous reports. But going public and laying blame on CNBC is a whole ‘nother thing. This Journal article goes deeper into the specifics of the accusations, Lutnick’s apparently fairly close relationship to Jensen Huang and other details of this internal administration battle.
TPM’s Untitled Live Show (Name TBD) returns today at 1 p.m. ET. If you think you’ve read all there is to be said about the Nvidia boss’ sex scandal, resignation and the ways in which it makes the Trump administration look wet behind the ears, just wait.
I hope you’ll join Joe, Hunter, Derick and myself this afternoon on YouTube. Come Huang out.
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 27: U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) speaks during a forum on President Trump’s crypto dealings co-hosted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in the Dirksen Senate Office on July 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. Trump and his family have generated about $1.4 billion in revenue from crypto-related businesses, including the $TRUMP meme coin and World Liberty Financial, at the same time that his presidential administration is tasked with regulating the crypto markets in the United States. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
