Exclusive | Sens. Cotton, Lee demand Trump admin cut off Chinese from national labs
Cotton joined Mike Lee in pressing the Energy Department about Chinese nationals’ access to national laboratories.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYThe New York Post is an established national outlet that publishes attributed reporting, but its tabloid style and comparatively limited transparency about editorial processes warrant a score below that of a newspaper of record. This report identifies its author and attributes figures and statements to their sources.
- Source type — Established national news publisher, with a tabloid-oriented presentation.
- Author attribution — A named reporter is credited.
- Editorial standards — The report attributes quotations and data, but does not show extensive independent sourcing.
- Transparency — The article identifies sources for key figures, though its editorial and correction practices are not established in the text.
The article gives specific figures attributed to Energy Department data and quotes the senators’ letter, while also noting the department’s vetting process. The report is largely built around the senators’ concerns and provides little independent analysis or response from the department or other perspectives.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article presents detailed concerns from Cotton and Lee and notes Wright’s prior description of the vetting process, but it does not include a current response from the department or other perspectives on the proposed restrictions.
- Source diversity — The senators’ letter is the main perspective; no independent expert or affected-party view is included.
- Counterarguments presented — The department’s prior explanation of its vetting program offers some context, but not a direct response to the current concerns.
- Omitted context — The article does not explain the department’s rationale for allowing the access or assess the proposed blanket restrictions.
- Loaded language — Charged terms appear mainly in quotations attributed to the senators.
The report is primarily a straightforward account of the senators’ concerns, but it gives their national-security framing substantial space and does not include a response from the department or an opposing perspective. The language is mostly attributed rather than presented as the outlet’s own conclusion.
- Framing — The story centers the senators’ warning about Chinese access as a national-security vulnerability.
- Source selection — The senators’ claims dominate; no critic or independent expert is quoted.
- Language tone — Most forceful language is quoted and attributed to the senators.
Sens. Tom Cotton and Mike Lee urged Energy Secretary Chris Wright to explain Chinese nationals’ access to national laboratories, warning that it could expose sensitive research. They cited DOE figures showing thousands of visits, research assignments and remote accesses during fiscal year 2025.
In a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Sens. Tom Cotton and Mike Lee questioned how the Energy Department accounts for China’s intelligence law, why Chinese nationals are allowed into national laboratories, what sensitive technology they can access and what restrictions apply. The senators said the access creates vulnerabilities and cited DOE data showing about 1,900 short-term visits and 1,300 long-term research assignments by Chinese nationals at 17 federally funded labs in fiscal year 2025. DOE data also showed more than 5,000 remote accesses that year, and the department employed another 2,100 Chinese nationals.
The article says Wright has previously described counterintelligence assessments and other vetting for citizens of adversarial countries under the department’s access program. It also reports that Cotton and Lee wrote to Wright in January urging a ban on Chinese nationals at the labs and introduced the GATE Act in March 2025, which would bar nationals of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia from the labs.
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SWIPE →Arkansas senator calling for restrictions on Chinese access to national laboratories
Utah senator calling for restrictions on Chinese access to national laboratories
Lee's version of this story ↗Energy secretary who received the senators’ letter
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