Committee chair launches probe into ‘Chinese influence’

Federal agencies including National Science Foundation and Nasa asked for information on threat responses

The chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability has launched what he describes as a “government-wide investigation into China’s ongoing efforts to infiltrate and influence the United States”.

Republican James Comer (pictured) wrote to nine federal agencies and departments on 14 March, including the National Science Foundation and the space agency Nasa, asking them what steps they are taking “to thwart the Chinese Communist Party’s political and economic warfare campaign”.