House Republicans Investigate Commerce Department’s 90-Day Block on Firearm Export Licenses

Lawmakers question whether the Commerce Department is trying to starve the domestic firearms industry in pursuit of an anti-gun agenda.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 13, 2023. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

House Republicans are launching a new probe into the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision last month to stop issuing new export licenses for most civilian firearms and ammunition sold to non-government users for 90 days.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Tuesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) called on the department to provide Congress with a staff-level briefing on the pause by no later than Dec. 5.