American technology continues to use Russian weapons despite export controls, according to Democrats in the Senate

WASHINGTON — U.S.-made technology continues to fall into Russian hands in Ukraine as a key national security agency remains critically underfunded, according to a report by Senate Democrats released Wednesday.

The report, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., comes as officials in the new Trump administration are calling for sweeping cuts in government spending. While their arguments center on cutting government waste, the new report highlights how existing capacity gaps in key government agencies are already undermining US interests.

In a 30-page report, Democratic representatives of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations say the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)’s enhanced export controls “are a shadow of what they should be and are inadequate at every level. »

The agency was asked to perform a key national security function “on a shoestring budget,” he said, using “ridiculous technology that hasn’t been significantly updated in nearly two decades,” despite more modern alternatives being used not only in the private sector but in other state institutions.

The end result: American microchips and other equipment continue to be found in Russian missiles, armored vehicles and drones.

The report is the result of a 15-month investigation led by Blumenthal, in which leaders of America’s largest semiconductor makers testified before the commission and were indicted by both Republicans and Democrats over Russia’s ability to buy and use their products despite export restrictions.

An previous version of the report was released ahead of the hearings in September, revealing that export controls at four major US chipmakers — Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Analog Devices, Intel and Texas Instruments Inc. – was “completely absent”.

A new report suggests that part of the problem may be a lack of federal enforcement. According to the report, BIS “largely left the decision on how to comply with the law to the semiconductor companies themselves.” He also accuses the agency of not charging companies with serious enough violations or imposing fines.

A Commerce Department official told NBC News that under the Biden administration, “BIS put in place the most robust export controls in history, and importantly, we did it together with our allies to deprive Russia of the goods it needs to wage war.” machine”.

“While the BIS budget has stagnated for a decade, the bureau is working diligently around the clock to fulfill its mission and protect US national security,” the spokesman said, adding that with the necessary resources from Congress, as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and bipartisan members of Congress have called for, “the agency will even better equipped to meet the challenges of the changing national security environment.”

Trump sometimes chose billionaire Howard Lutnick to lead the agency during his second administration encouraged calls to cut funding to federal agencies and even empowered Elon Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE). Musk has called for cutting federal spending by as much as $2 trillion — more than the entire discretionary budget.

In a request for comment on the report, Texas Instruments said the company “strongly opposes the use of our chips in Russian military equipment and the illegal diversion of our products to Russia. TI stopped selling products to Russia and Belarus in February 2022. Any deliveries of TI chips to Russia are illegal and unauthorized,” the company said in a statement. “We devote a lot of time and resources to developing, implementing and improving policies and procedures to combat illegal redirection and keep chips out of the hands of criminals. If we find evidence of product diversion, we will investigate and take action.”

An AMD representative said in a statement: “AMD shares the goal of preventing the Russian military from accessing our products, as outlined in the Senate PSI report, and does not allow them to be illegally used in Russian weapons systems. Immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we stopped all sales and technical support of our products in Russia and all restricted regions. Our export compliance program is designed under the guidance of the US Bureau of Industry and Security. Before we make a sale, we take steps to make sure we know who we’re selling to, including refusing to do business with any company that may be directly or indirectly associated with a sanctioned entity. AMD continues our collaboration with BIS and the Disruptive Technology Strike Force on this complex but critical issue.”

Analog Devices said in a statement: “ADI is committed to preventing the unauthorized resale, illegal diversion and misuse of our products and to complying with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate. We at ADI strongly condemn the illegal diversion and unintentional misuse of our products.”

Even as the U.S. and its Western allies have imposed a series of sanctions to hurt Russia’s economy and cut off the Kremlin’s access to key parts used to make weapons, Russian production of artillery, missiles and drones has declined. increased dramatically, according to the report since summer A report by the Royal Joint Services Institute, a British defense think tank, found that Russia receives raw materials and weapons components from NATO member states and that greater cooperation between the countries is needed to block Moscow’s access.

Over the past two decades, export controls have become a critical tool of national security. Democrats on the investigative panel said the effort was key not only to disrupting Russia’s advances in Ukraine, but also to slowing China’s progress to catch up with the U.S. in artificial intelligence.

In a letter to Raimondo on Wednesday, Blumenthal outlined the report’s findings and asked the agency to take “aggressive steps to curtail the flow of American semiconductors into the Russian military machine.”

He was referring to a Bloomberg News article earlier this month reported Western officials have been consistently disappointed that Russian weapons are “stuffed” with American-made electronic components, despite a flurry of trade controls. In fact, the report found that in some cases, Russian distributors simply integrated order information from Texas Instruments’ online store, the TI store, into their offers, allowing them to see and order the latest parts with a single click. mouse. The items are then routed through Hong Kong or other countries before arriving in Russia.

TI told Bloomberg that it spends a lot of time and resources to protect its products from the Russians. In September, a TI official spoke at a Senate hearing about the company’s efforts to control the export of its products.

“I want to be very clear: TI strongly opposes the use of our chips in Russian military equipment. Any deliveries of TI products to Russia are illegal and unauthorized.” Shannon Thompsonthe company’s assistant general counsel said during hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in September “We are working hard to prevent the illegal outflow of our units to Russia. Every level of our company takes this seriously.”