Conservative Coalition Urges House Leadership to Include Safeguards Against Chinese AI Chip Development in FY2027 NDAA 

Representatives from the conservative groups American Compass, Heritage Action, and the Foundation for American Innovation wrote today to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise in support of including strengthened chip export control provisions in the final version of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). 

American dominance in the design and manufacture of advanced semiconductors is a critical priority for national and economic security, as the key technology undergirding AI development, cyber-warfare, and military and economic modernization. However, meaningful gaps remain in the advanced semiconductor and manufacturing equipment (SME) export control regime, which are actively being exploited by the Chinese Communist Party. The letter asks that three provisions, already reportedly contained in the manager’s amendment of the Senate NDAA, be included in the final version of the bill:

• The AI OVERWATCH Act, which passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee by 42-2 on January 21, 2026, would codify existing restrictions on the sale of the most advanced chips, while strengthening protections regarding the sale of other advanced chips by requiring that such sales not benefit adversaries’ military capabilities or harm American supply or computational capacity.
• The Chip Security Act, which passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously 42-0 on March 26, 2026, would strengthen America’s ability to fight chip smuggling by requiring location verification technology for advanced AI chips.
• The MATCH Act, which passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee by 36-8 on April 22, 2026,and a stronger version of which is included in the Senate NDAA manager’s amendment, would mitigate existing loopholes by requiring alignment between American and allied export control regimes on critical SME technologies.

The letter says: 

The American export control regime for advanced AI chips and SME has delivered extraordinary benefits to our nation, but it will achieve less than it could, and may prove entirely inadequate, unless it is strengthened to combat the CCP’s efforts to undermine it. We urge you to join your Senate colleagues, House committee leadership, and the wider conservative coalition in ensuring that the FY2027 NDAA does exactly that.

Read the full letter here.