Senate Democrats push trio of bills to block China from access to

Watching Senate Democrats suddenly discover national security concerns about China is like watching someone bolt upright at noon and declare they’ve always been a morning person. The three bills they rolled out, aimed at cutting Beijing off from American AI chips and the machines that make them, are the right instincts arriving at the most convenient possible moment. President Trump is about to sit down with Xi Jinping, and the Democratic response is to wave a stack of paper and insist they care more about technology leaks than he does.

They don’t, of course. This is negotiation sabotage dressed up as patriotism. Trump has already spent years squeezing China’s access to advanced tech, not to mention the tariffs that have companies reshoring at record rates. The bills themselves may contain worthwhile provisions, but the timing tells you everything. The Democrats had years to push this when Joe Biden was in charge, and mostly they settled for export control studies and interagency memos. Now they’re suddenly the China hawks. Nobody in the Democratic caucus is that dumb. They are gambling that being seen as tougher than Trump on Beijing is a political winner, even if it means giving Xi leverage before a critical summit.

Republicans should not take the bait and reject the legislation outright, but they also shouldn’t pretend the Democrats have turned over a new leaf. The right move is to take the parts that work, put them on Trump’s desk, and let him own the victory. We have no problem with Congress acting in America’s interest. We have a problem with using national security as a prop for a press release timed to the president’s travel schedule. If Democrats truly want to block China from our most sensitive chips, they can prove it by supporting Trump’s negotiating position instead of undercutting it. Until then, this is just politics wearing a hard hat.