WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has joined a coalition of congressional colleagues critical of California’s sub-national business and diplomatic ties with China.
In an Aug. 20 letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Todd Blanche, three senators and a congressman have called for a federal investigation into California’s numerous climate change agreements with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“If Gov. Newsom (of California) would like to assume foreign affairs authority constitutionally vested in the federal government,” they wrote, “that option – while quixotic, ill-conceived and downright laughable – is theoretically open to him.
“As it stands, however, he is likely violating the U.S. Constitution and serving as China’s useful pawn while destroying the pocketbooks of millions of hardworking Americans.”
Members of Lee’s staff in Washington say that California has an extensive history of circumventing congressional oversight to reach agreements with the CCP that predates Newsom’s term as governor.
California and China have plenty of practical reason to see eye-to-eye, according to the California-China Climate Institute at the University of California (Berkeley).
Nearly a third of Chinese immigrants to the United States reside in California. China is the world’s second-largest economy, while California boast of the fifth-largest world economy, if judged like a separate country. Both those economies are technologically advanced and share an interest is climate change politics.
Yet Newsom has gone further than either of his two predecessors in the governor’s office in firming up links with the Chinese mainland.
During a 2023 trip to China, Newsom inked five non-binding agreement with the Chinese national government as well as various provinces and cities.
Those ambitious accords cover the so-called decarbonization of industrial and transportation sectors; the creation of a shipping corridor between Los Angeles and Shanghai; clean energy implementation; shared goals for zero-emission vehicles; climate adaptation guidelines; and reduction of polluting emissions.
More recently, Newsom has taken steps to codify the California-China Climate Institute — originally established by former Gov. Jerry Brown — into law along with the China-U.S. ZEV Policy Lab, which aims to speed the commercialization of electric vehicles.
But Lee and his congressional allies insist that the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution grants the federal government authority over foreign affairs. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that even sub-national state actions with impacts on foreign relations may be unconstitutional.
Other than the California’s affronts to the U.S. Constitution, Lee’s calls for a federal investigation into Newsom’s ties to the CCP may also be intended to derail the California governor’s rumored presidential aspirations in 2028.
Other signatories of the letter to Trump administration officials include Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) as well as U.S. Rep. Young Kim (R-CA).