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Members criticize alleged politicization of CFIUS as Treasury cites confidentiality
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Summary
Members accused past administrations of politicizing CFIUS decisions and cited high-profile transactions; Treasury’s Chris Pilkerton repeatedly cited statutory confidentiality and offered staff-level briefings rather than public case details.
Several members used the hearing to press allegations about political influence and specific high-profile transactions subject to statutory confidentiality. Representative Beatty accused the previous administration of turning CFIUS into a political instrument and cited TikTok and other cases as examples of unpredictable reviews. "This repeated and blatant abuse of power does not make America safer," Beatty said.
Representative Maxine Waters raised public reporting about a transaction involving entities tied to former President Trump and asked whether CFIUS received the required filing and completed a review. Pilkerton declined to comment on any particular matter, citing the program’s confidentiality rules, and offered to have Treasury legislative staff engage with committee staff for any classified or staff-level briefings.
Representative Caston and others questioned whether mitigation agreements in past cases had given unusual authorities to private individuals and asked whether similar arrangements are an ongoing practice. Pilkerton reiterated he could not discuss particular cases and pointed members to public executive orders or to classified briefings if appropriate. Throughout the hearing Pilkerton emphasized that the CFIUS process relies on interagency expertise and that identifying and mitigating national-security risks remains the committee’s objective.
