An amendment adopted into the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would require the Department of Defense (DOD) to vet U.S. defense contractors for Chinese intelligence-ties, according to a copy exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Introduced by Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, the Assessment Of Foreign Ownership Contractors amendment gives DOD one year to formalize its vetting policies for defense contractors, while also forcing the secretary of Defense to vet contractors for “membership, affiliation, or participation” in a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD). Furthermore, DOD’s failure to comply with the amendment’s deadline automatically results in the cancellation of “all contracts and subcontracts with contractors and subcontracts not assessed for risks related to foreign ownership, control, or influence.”
Ernst sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in March 2025 calling on DOD to kill contracts with U.S. defense contractor S&L Aerospace Metals LLC, citing a February DCNF investigation revealing Chinese government and state media reports that identified the firm’s owner as an official within multiple UFWD agencies.
“It is inexcusable that the Biden administration failed to take commonsense steps to protect America’s national security from espionage,” Ernst told the DCNF. “We know China and other foreign adversaries are hard at work to steal our technology. The last thing we need to do is leave the backdoor unlocked for them.”
“By implementing a thorough vetting process for all DOD contractors, we can guarantee that America will be safer, stronger, and more secure while remaining the world’s leader in innovation,” Ernst said.
The 2026 NDAA, which determines DOD’s annual budget, has passed out of committee and is now headed to the Senate floor for final passage.
The DCNF’s February report found that New York-based S&L has won approximately $60 million in defense contracts and subcontracts for fighter jet, attack helicopter and guided missile launcher parts. However, S&L’s CEO, Jerry Wang, has been identified as a “director” of multiple UFWD agencies by Chinese government records and state media reports.
The UFWD’s operations are a “blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations that the [CCP] uses to shape its political environment, including to influence other countries’ policy toward the [People’s Republic of China] and to gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the House Select Committee on the CCP.
Wang’s spokesman, Mark Herr, denied he had “acted in any way that is disloyal,” and Wang’s attorney likewise insisted that his client had no ties to foreign political entities after the DCNF inquired about some 13 photos picturing Wang at Chinese government functions alongside high-ranking UFWD chiefs and party officials, including Xi Jinping. However, when asked if Wang denied being pictured in those photographs, Wang’s attorney replied: “no.”
“Jerry Wang is a loyal American citizen who has proudly helped keep America’s national defense strong for 25 years and any suggestion that he is anything but is false, wrong, and defamatory,” Herr told the DCNF.
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Author: Dillon B
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