US Senators Want to Ban Chinese Scientists From Government Labs

Underpinning the espionage concern is the fact that Beijing has passed laws to require all Chinese citizens to assist in the state’s intelligence efforts.

The Department of Energy building in Washington on Nov. 13, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Eleven senators wrote to Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Jan. 13 seeking to ban Chinese nationals from U.S. national labs, concerned that their access would undermine the United States’ position in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.

The Energy Department oversees 17 national laboratories and funds research to advance energy, environmental, nuclear, and other transformative science technologies. In November 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the department to implement Genesis Mission, coordinating a national effort to accelerate AI innovation “comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project.”